US developing nuclear powered spacecraft by 2027, will take just 4 months to reach Mars

New Delhi: The United States is planning to prepare a nuclear fission powered spacecraft by 2027 that is expected to reduce the travelling time to mars from 9 months to just 4 mounts. The NASA on Tuesday said that it was partnering with US military’s research and development agency, DARPA, to develop a nuclear thermal propulsion engine and launch it to space by 2027. The agency has been for long studies the concept of nuclear thermal propulsion. Heat from a nuclear fission reactor, in this concept, is introduced to a hydrogen propellant to provide a thrust. The thrust generated in this process is believed to be far more powerful than the chemical-based rocket engines in use at present. A journey from Earth to Mars with a conventional chemical-based rocket engines take around 9 months. But with nuclear thermal propulsion the travel time would be reduced to less than half, just 4 months. This, NASA believes, is crucial for sending humans deeper into the space. The cutting down of travelling time would mean that astronauts will have be exposed to space radiations for lesser time, will need lesser supplies; food and other cargo, on a trip to Mars. “If we have swifter trips for humans, they are safer trips,” NASA deputy administrator and former astronaut Pam Melroy was quoted as saying by Reuters. The programme, which NASA now joining, is part of an existing DARPA research program. It could also inform the US Space Forces vision of deploying nuclear reactor-powered spacecraft capable of moving satellites orbiting near the moon. General Atomics, Lockheed Martin and Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin were awarded funds in 2021 to study designs of nuclear reactors and spacecraft. The agency will pick a company to build the nuclear spacecraft for the 2027 demonstration by march, the program’s manager Tabitha Dodson said in an interview according to Reuters. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.