Did you know that the United States was developing a nuclear
rocket in the 1960’s that was to fly astronauts into deep space, beyond Moon,
after the completion of the Apollo program?
The program was called NERVA (Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application)
and if it had been funded through completion, then we would have today a rocket
capable of taking people to Mars, Venus and beyond using only about the half
the fuel that is required to take the same voyage using traditional chemical
rockets.
Before it was canceled by the Nixon Administration, the
NERVA Program successfully demonstrated a functioning nuclear rocket engine in
the Nevada desert. An untested but still
functional nuclear rocket engine was on display at The US Space and Rocket
Center in Huntsville, AL for several years before it was moved back to the
Marshall Space Flight Center where it is standing today. That’s me in the picture, standing in front
of the NERVA engine with Kelvin Long (Editor, Journal of the British
Interplanetary Society).
I’m not recommending or advocating – just sayin’.
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