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Nov 8, 2023 · Hot off the heels of the DRACO announcement in July 2023, Lockheed Martin was awarded $33.7 million from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for the Joint Emergent Technology Supplying On-Orbit Nuclear (JETSON) High Power program to mature high-power nuclear electric power and propulsion technologies and spacecraft design. The JETSON ...
Feb 6, 2024 · Space nuclear propulsion is a technology that draws energy from fission instead of traditional chemical reactions, thus providing virtually unlimited energy density and opening the door for crewed missions to Mars and deep space science. NASA is looking at two types of nuclear propulsion systems – thermal and electric.
Jun 29, 2021 · As NASA advances its bold vision of exploration and scientific discovery in space, it benefits from 60 years of the safe use of nuclear power during spaceflight. Sixty years of enlightenment that all started with a little satellite called Transit IV-A. News Media Contact Jan Wittry NASA's Glenn Research Center
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What is space nuclear propulsion?
Nuclear power in space is the use of nuclear power in outer space, typically either small fission systems or radioactive decay for electricity or heat. Another use is for scientific observation, as in a Mössbauer spectrometer. The most common type is a radioisotope thermoelectric generator, which has been used on many space probes and on ...
Jun 9, 2015 · Radioisotope power systems -- which directly convert heat generated by the decay of plutonium-238 into electric power -- use the latter, and are essential for long missions to distant parts of the solar system, where solar-powered space travel may be impractical or impossible. Plutonium-238 works well as a space power source for several reasons ...
Feb 18, 2022 · “For space missions that need high electric power output, such as a human Mars mission or space ferries, a fission reactor-based power system can be a very competitive choice,” said Hui Du of the Beijing Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering, citing a China Academy of Space Technology study in 2015, which found that a human Mars ...
Sep 9, 2021 · History of Nuclear Power in Space. Nuclear power has a proven track record of safely and reliably powering interplanetary research missions. Radioisotope power systems, called “space batteries” or “plutonium batteries,” are essentially nuclear batteries that reliably convert heat generated by the decay of plutonium-238 into electric power.
