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How I learned to stop worrying and love the nuclear spaceship?
Lockheed Martin has been awarded a contract from DARPA to “develop and demonstrate a nuclear-powered spacecraft” for the joint DARPA and NASA DRACO project. The first demonstration will “take place no later than 2027.”
What is nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP)?
[NTP] uses a nuclear reactor to quickly heat hydrogen propellant to very high temperatures... then funnels that gas through the engine nozzle to create powerful thrust... The reactor will not be turned on until the spacecraft has reached a nuclear safe orbit, making the NTP system very safe.
That last bit is important — see the 1978 Kosmos 954 accident that spread radioactive debris all over the Canadian wilderness.
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