spacetoday.net: NASA planning nuclear propulsion system for manned Mars missions

Posted: Fri, Jan 17, 2003, 12:36 PM ET (1736 GMT)
NASA is planning to develop a nuclear propulsion system that could be used to carry out manned missions to Mars in one-third the time of conventional rockets, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe told the Times that NASA is asking for a "significant" increase in funding for its nuclear systems initiative to allow for development of the nuclear rocket, which would be ready within the next decade. The concept, called Project Prometheus, could be announced by President Bush during his State of the Union address on January 28, although some analysts doubted that Bush would devote any time in the speech to space given pressing economic and foreign policy concerns. Details about the technical design of the rocket, or the amount of funding NASA has requested to develop it, were not disclosed. The Times said NASA was emboldened to pursue the project when its nuclear systems initiative, announced last year as a way to develop nuclear power and propulsion systems for use in space, met with little opposition. The key application for a nuclear propulsion system would be to enable crews to travel from Earth to Mars in only two months, one-third the time current mission plans using conventional propulsion call for, although human missions to Mars are not specifically mentioned as the main purpose of the project. NASA also plans to increase funding on research to develop countermeasures to radiation and microgravity exposure humans on long-duration missions would experience.