NASA’s push for a new nuclear rocket engine is not just another upgrade to the hardware we strap to the bottom of spacecraft.

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NASA is partnering with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, to use a nuclear thermal rocket engine in space, according to reports. In a press release on Tuesday, NASA said the ...

NASA studied "nuclear thermal propulsion systems" during the Cold War, but shelved the idea because it wasn't necessary. Nuclear-powered spacecraft could send humans to Mars faster and allow them to ...

NASA and DARPA will work together to develop and demonstrate a nuclear thermal rocket engine in space by 2027. The Demonstration Rocket is part of the Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) programme.

A nuclear thermal rocket engine in development could one day transport humans to Mars. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a research arm of the US Department of Defense, and NASA are ...