Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) has stood as a promising potential alternative propulsion technology for decades. Chemical rockets have begun to reach their theoretical maximum efficiency, and their ...

Researchers have reported new progress in developing a liquid uranium-fueled rocket engine, a Centrifugal Nuclear Thermal Rocket (CNTR). “The Centrifugal Nuclear Thermal Rocket (CNTR) is a Nuclear ...

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 ...

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 ...

Essentially, a nuclear rocket engine is a reactor that has hydrogen running through it as a propellant, which is heated to an astonishing 3,000 K (2,727 °C, 4,940 °F), giving it almost twice the ...

Right now, scientists around the world are all working towards one mission: Setting foot on another world for the first time. Unfortunately, it turns out those other worlds are really far away, ...

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 ...

Dan Kotlyar receives funding from Idaho National Laboratory and BWXT Inc. for research related to nuclear thermal propulsion. This relatively long transit time is a result of the use of traditional ...