NASA and ORNL are developing nuclear rockets for Mars missions
NASA and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are teaming up to make safer, smarter nuclear rockets for future Mars missions.
ORNL has built a special test setup that mimics how a real nuclear rocket would work—without any actual nuclear material—so engineers can quickly improve the systems that keep these rockets running smoothly.
The setup uses a fake reactor with control drums
The setup uses a fake reactor with six control drums instrumented with sensors, tracking things like speed and position.
It even simulates the flow conditions of hydrogen propellant—resulting in about twice the efficiency in terms of thrust and specific impulse compared to regular rockets—which means way more efficient thrust for deep space travel.
An NVIDIA Jetson computer helps run the show
An NVIDIA Jetson computer helps run the show, processing data from all those sensors and adjusting the system on the fly.
This lets engineers safely test autonomous controls here on Earth, which is huge since you can't exactly fix things easily when you're millions of miles away.