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 ...

As the cloud cleared, Air Force bombers dropped in to gather air samples. Researchers hoped that the radioactive fallout ...

A nuclear thermal propulsion engine could cut the travel time in half for future space explorers racing to the Red Planet.

The best, in fact, the only, candidate for this is the Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) system or nuclear rocket. First conceived of in 1945, this is a rocket that replaces burning chemical fuel with ...

Going to the moon was one thing; going to Mars will be quite another. The distance alone is intimidating. While the moon is ...

Scientists and engineers are diligently working on innovative concepts to make the next era of human spaceflight more powerful and more efficient using nuclear propulsion. One of these designs, known ...

Viewed from orbit, Jackass Flats — situated in southern Nevada about 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas — could easily be confused for Mars. The alluvial basin is full of tan and gray regolith, hued ...

Engineers from Ohio State University are developing a new way to power rocket engines, using liquid uranium for a faster, more efficient form of nuclear propulsion that could deliver round trips to ...

Introduction -- Rocket engine fundamentals -- Nuclear rocket engine cycles -- Interplanetary mission analysis -- Basic nuclear structure and processes -- Neutron flux energy distribution -- Neutron ...

Forward-looking: Scientists have long envisioned nuclear electric propulsion as a transformative technology for unlocking the potential of solar system exploration. Now, two companies making steady ...

The Space Age framed nuclear propulsion as a quiet rethinking of movement, distance, and endurance beyond Earth.

NASA’s push for a new nuclear rocket engine is not just another upgrade to the hardware we strap to the bottom of spacecraft. It is an attempt to rewrite the basic rules of how far, how fast, and how ...