Project, in concert with US government agency Darpa, aims to develop pioneering propulsion system for space travel
. Engineers do not yet know how much time could be shaved off using nuclear technology, but Bill Nelson, the Nasa administrator, said it would allow spacecraft, and humans, to travel in deep space at record speed.
Nuclear electric propulsion systems use propellants much more efficiently than chemical rockets but provide a low amount of thrust,A reactor generates electricity that positively charges gas propellants like xenon or krypton, pushing the ions out through a thruster, which drives the spacecraft forward.
In a statement, Darpa’s director, Dr Stefanie Tompkins, said the agreement was an extension of existing collaboration between the agencies.