Lockheed Martin to develop nuclear thermal propulsion rocket (Earth, Mars, new)

[rjshae]

NASA picks Lockheed Martin to develop nuclear rocket

NASA and the US military said Wednesday they had selected defense contractor Lockheed Martin to develop a nuclear powered rocket, with a view to using the technology for missions to Mars.

The Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program may launch as soon as 2027, officials said on a call.

[BigfishTim]

Both NASA and the DoD wanted to develop Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR) for many decades, now is the time politically favorable to do so.

It was the DoD working behind the scenes that got NASA started on Nuclear reactor production capability in the past several years. In the 50s, DoD had a NTR program going testing Nuclear Rocket in Nevada. Back then, people thought having radioactive exhaust coming out of a rocket in Earth's atmosphere was not a good idea so the program was canceled.

NASA's rationale is they need NTR for space exploration. To generate heat by combustion is inefficient vs having an independent heat source like a Nuclear Reactor. You will need to carry liquid oxygen on board if you generate heat by combustion which will make the vehicle heavy (the liquid oxygen is 17 times heavier than liquid hydrogen).

[rjshae]

With nuclear propulsion, I believe that commercial mining of asteroids becomes more plausible, which can establish a space economy. How will this government owned technology be made available to commercial interests, I wonder? It's a problem we'll have to solve to make space settlement happen.

[BigfishTim]

Originally Posted by rjshae

With nuclear propulsion, I believe that commercial mining of asteroids becomes more plausible, which can establish a space economy. How will this government owned technology be made available to commercial interests, I wonder? It's a problem we'll have to solve to make space settlement happen.

Oh I would think the technology transfer to commercial applications is not an issue with Lockheed Martin as the prime contractor.

The bigger picture is, once a Nuclear Rocket comes online it's not environmentally friendly for it to renters the Earth's atmosphere. So think of a Space Commercial Station being developed to park & service the NTR when it's not in use, routine launches to replenish the liquid hydrogen, and since we have a Commercial Space Station, why not expand it to Space Tourism? Imagine a Hilton/ Marriott in space?

This gets better. If we have Space Tourism the we will require routine transport of passengers from Earth to Space Station. This will stimulate companies like Virgin Galactic, Sierra Space, to develop a Reusable Space Transportation System. All commercially-driven technologies.

The economic ecosystem possibility is impressive.