Nuclear rockets will quickly and efficiently transport 'material to the Moon and eventually, people to Mars.'
Dr. Stefanie Tompkins, director of DARPA, highlighted the two agencies' historic collaboration on spacecraft such as Saturn V for the Apollo missions. "The ability to accomplish leap-ahead advances in space technology through the DRACO nuclear thermal rocket program will be essential for more efficiently and quickly transporting material to the Moon and, eventually, people to Mars," she explained.
In its statement, DARPA said it is leveraging the lessons learned in NASA's past experiments. Crucially, though, "instead of using highly-enriched uranium, DRACO is using high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel to have fewer logistical hurdles on its ambitious timeline." The defense agency also stated that, as a safety precaution, it would design its system so that the fission reaction only turns on once the spacecraft is in space.
NASA is, of course, set on eventually sending humans to Mars. The agency's Artemis program, which will establish a permanent presence on the moon, is seen as a stepping stone toward the eventual colonization of Mars. SpaceX, meanwhile, is on the verge of launching its
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