Seems to have quite an early proposed flight date of fiscal year 2026.
spacenews.com
Via the Nuclear reddit:
Op-ed | It's Time for Congress to Order the Nuclear Option
Op-ed | It's Time for Congress to Order the Nuclear Optionspacenews.com
Disappointed but not surprised that they're going nuclear thermal rather than nuclear electric. It will be interesting to watch regardless.On a related note:
US To Test Nuclear-powered Spacecraft by 2027 - Slashdot
The United States plans to test a spacecraft engine powered by nuclear fission by 2027 as part of a long-term NASA effort to demonstrate more efficient methods of propelling astronauts to Mars in the future, the space agency's chief said Tuesday. From a report: NASA will partner with the U.S...news.slashdot.org
I remember seeing a VaSIMR mission profile with the main spacecraft spiralling out very slowly even at it's lowest isp/highest thrust and consequently spending a lot of time in the Van Allen belts. Crew would be launched in an Orion to rendezvous once it had reached high orbit, which makes manned missions in cislunar space complicated. Also, I gather, ion and plasma really only come into their own for manned missions at interplanetary ranges and timescales. So apparently, nuclear-thermal is best for cislunar applications in the near term and nuclear-electric for interplanetary missions in the long term.Disappointed but not surprised that they're going nuclear thermal rather than nuclear electric. It will be interesting to watch regardless.On a related note:
US To Test Nuclear-powered Spacecraft by 2027 - Slashdot
The United States plans to test a spacecraft engine powered by nuclear fission by 2027 as part of a long-term NASA effort to demonstrate more efficient methods of propelling astronauts to Mars in the future, the space agency's chief said Tuesday. From a report: NASA will partner with the U.S...news.slashdot.org
There are work-arounds for long exposure, including boosting the crew separately to meet the vehicle after it is beyond the belt or using a high-thrust chemical stage to boost the spacecraft on its initial leg. The immense radiation hazard of NTP, which makes any kind of rendezvous mission treacherous, doesn't go away easily.I remember seeing a VaSIMR mission profile with the main spacecraft spiralling out very slowly even at it's lowest isp/highest thrust and consequently spending a lot of time in the Van Allen belts. Crew would be launched in an Orion to rendezvous once it had reached high orbit, which makes manned missions in cislunar space complicated. Also, I gather, ion and plasma really only come into their own for manned missions at interplanetary ranges and timescales. So apparently, nuclear-thermal is best for cislunar applications in the near term and nuclear-electric for interplanetary missions in the long term.Disappointed but not surprised that they're going nuclear thermal rather than nuclear electric. It will be interesting to watch regardless.On a related note:
US To Test Nuclear-powered Spacecraft by 2027 - Slashdot
The United States plans to test a spacecraft engine powered by nuclear fission by 2027 as part of a long-term NASA effort to demonstrate more efficient methods of propelling astronauts to Mars in the future, the space agency's chief said Tuesday. From a report: NASA will partner with the U.S...news.slashdot.org
