[ExI] US military eyes nuclear thermal rocket

[Adrian Tymes]

Let's just hope support doesn't wane after the election.

On Thu, Oct 1, 2020 at 2:44 AM BillK via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> US military eyes nuclear thermal rocket for missions in Earth-moon space
> By Mike Wall    30 Sep 2020
>
> DARPA awarded a $14 million task order to help make it happen.
> <https://www.space.com/darpa-nuclear-thermal-rocket-for-moon-contract>
>
> Quote:
> NTP systems use fission reactors to heat propellants such as hydrogen
> to extreme temperatures, then eject the gas through nozzles to create
> thrust. This tech boasts a thrust-to-weight ratio about 10,000 times
> higher than that of electric propulsion systems and a specific
> impulse, or propellant efficiency, two to five times that of
> traditional chemical rockets, DARPA officials wrote in a description
> of the DRACO program.
> ----------------------
>
> NASA is enthusiastic as well as they need something better than
> chemical rockets for space travel.
>
> BillK
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