Nuclear-powered rocket can power mission to Mars
Recommended for Secondary Grades
Mission to Mars: NASA wants to land humans on Mars by 2035. But it will be a very difficult task.
Mars is about 188 million kilometres away from Earth. Currently, the shortest possible trip for an unmanned spacecraft is seven months. But a mission to Mars with astronauts is expected to take longer, at least nine months.
Not only that, the climate on Mars is very harsh. It is colder than Antarctica and has no almost no oxygen. So, the longer it takes astronauts to get there and the longer they stay, the more they are at risk.
An American company called Ultra Safe Nuclear Technologies (USNC-Tech) says that a nuclear-powered engine could be the answer.
A nuclear-powered rocket
A nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) engine would be more powerful and twice as efficient as the chemical engines that rockets use today. It could get humans from Earth to Mars in just three months.
An NTP system uses a nuclear reactor to generate heat from a uranium fuel. USNC-Tech says that they have developed a uranium fuel that can operate in really hot temperatures – up to 2,700 degrees Kelvin (2426.85 degrees Celsius).
However, it would be important to protect the astronauts from the bad effects of nuclear radiation.
The mission to Mars is one of the most interesting things happening in space technology today. We are trying to find new ways of exploring the Red Planet and perhaps even living on Mars someday. Keep reading Curious Times for more such space news for kids.
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