NASA wants nuclear rockets.
The agency’s administrator announced a partnership with DARPA for a demonstration by 2027. Simply put, nuclear-powered rockets use less mass than traditional liquid-fueled rockets. That means they can take missions farther and faster into our solar system -- including humans to Mars.
But it's beyond Mars where Florida Tech’s Manasvi Lingam envisions nuclear powered missions going. He’s an astrobiologist and says this technology might help us find signs of life well beyond our solar system -- and only take a few decades to get us there.
We'll hear from Lingam about the search for life in the space between stars.
And, we'll hear from NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg, who is serving as pilot for SpaceX's Crew-6 mission.
We'll talk with Hoburg about training to fly Dragon and understanding the risk of spaceflight.
The Crew-6 mission, carrying a crew of four, is set to take flight to the International Space Station from Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than February 26.
More to read:
- NASA and DARPA will build a nuclear rocket by 2027 (Space.com)
- Chasing Nomadic Worlds: A New Class of Deep Space Missions (ResearchGate)
- The Flight Potential to Planet 9 (FIT)
- Astronaut Warren "Woody" Hoburg (NASA.gov
