Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. This relatively long transit time is a result of the use of traditional chemical rocket fuel. An alternative technology to the ...

Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) is the preferred propulsion technology for manned missions throughout the solar system. The state-of-the-art NTP cycle is based on solid core Nuclear Engine for Rocket ...

An illustration of a rocket with a blue flame blasting out of Earth's atmosphere The U.S. plans to launch the world's first nuclear-powered spacecraft into orbit as early as 2025, NASA and the Defense ...

NASA has hired Lockheed Martin to design, build, and test a nuclear-powered rocket for space travel. The technology could speed up a manned trip to Mars from the current seven-month minimum to as few ...

I’ve grown up with rockets that burn chemical fuel, but NASA’s next big leap in propulsion could make those engines look as dated as steam trains. By turning to nuclear power in space, the agency is ...

DARPA and NASA are advancing toward the goal of the world’s first in-orbit demonstration of a nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) engine via DRACO, the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations.

The USA's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has finalised an agreement with Lockheed Martin to begin work on the fabrication and design of an experimental nuclear thermal rocket and its engine ...

Humanity has lived in the space age for decades, but virtually every probe, rocket, and satellite shaping this era has relied on chemical propulsion. As scientists and engineers eye more distant ...

Nuclear-powered spacecraft are in the domain of science fiction, right? Though theoretically fantastic for bringing humans to other heavenly bodies, we're routinely told such tech is outside the ...

NASA plans to send crewed missions to Mars over the next decade – but the 140 million-mile (225 million-kilometer) journey to the red planet could take several months to years round trip. This ...