";s:4:"text";s:1840:" A nuclear thermal rocket superheats liquid hydrogen in a nuclear reactor and shoots the resulting plasma out a rocket nozzle. NERVA was a joint effort of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and NASA.It was managed by the Space Nuclear Propulsion Office (SNPO) until the program ended in January 1973.. NERVA demonstrated that nuclear thermal rocket engines were a … Nuclear thermal rockets can provide great performance advantages compared to chemical propulsion systems. Nuclear Thermal Propulsion: Game Changing Technology for Deep Space Exploration
NERVA - NASA's Nuclear Energy for Rocket Vehicle Applications, a US nuclear thermal rocket program I can only give a laymans view, as I am neither rocket scientist (but I am a a fan of rocket scientists) nor a nuclear physicist (ditto). The Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application (NERVA) was a nuclear thermal rocket engine development program that ran for roughly two decades.
The new proposed propulsion concept is called the Nuclear Thermal Turbo Rocket (NTTR), which is a supercharged air-augmented nuclear thermal rocket architecture. That is a GREAT question! Nuclear power sources could also be used to provide the spacecraft with electrical power for operations and scientific instrumentation.