Nuclear Propulsion Concept Aims To Get Humans to Mars in Three Months

Oct. 26, 2020 (EIRNS)—The New Atlas website reported Oct. 25 a “new nuclear engine concept” of the nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) type, developed by Ultra Safe Nuclear Technologies based in Seattle, “and delivered it to NASA.” New Atlas wrote, “The company claims that this fuel is much more rugged than conventional nuclear fuels and can operate at high temperatures. This produces safer reactor designs and a high thrust and specific impulse that could previously only be obtained with highly-enriched uranium.... It is hoped the new concept could lead to nuclear engines that reduce deep space mission times drastically, with a crewed mission to Mars arriving in as little as three months.”