"In collaboration with NASA, General Atomics has achieved a significant milestone by testing nuclear propulsion fuels capable of enduring extreme space environments, marking a step closer to human missions to Mars. Credit: General Atomics, edited". (ScitechDaily, NASA’s Nuclear Rocket Fuel Just Survived 4200°F – A Major Step Toward Mars)
The General Atomics nuclear reactor or its fuel passed 2300 C without melting. That means the reactor is quite ready for Mars missions. The reactor is not the only thing that the spacecraft must have. But it's one of the vital components of that journey.
The nuclear-powered spacecraft is the tool that can used for the R&D process for new, multipurpose aerospace and space systems that can revolutionize civil and military operations. However, spaceborne, lightweight nuclear rectors are tools that can give energy to some, like spaceborne lasers. Things like nuclear-powered shuttles that can operate space and atmosphere are not new ideas.
In the 1950s and 1960s the Soviet and U.S. air forces developed aircraft and missile concepts like Project Pluto, Convair NB36H, and Tupolev Tu-95LAL were concepts that could be something. But then public opinion turned against nuclear-powered aircraft. Modern miniature reactors with highly enriched plutonium can make it possible to create things like jet-fighter-size shuttles that can operate in the atmosphere and space.
Project Pluto was the nuclear-powered cruise missile that planned to use a nuclear-powered ramjet engine. The problem was that the reactor made the exhaust gas radioactive. And the Pluto missile left a deadly radioactive tail behind it. The thing is that the hydrogen will not turn radioactive. But the fact is the propellant must not be in contact with nuclear fuel.
The reactor can boil propellant using electromagnetic waves like lasers, electric arcs, and microwaves. The thing is that the small nuclear reactors that use some synthetic elements can bring new abilities to next-generation hypersonic technology, or spacecraft that can operate in the atmosphere or orbital and beyond it.
Basically. The nuclear-powered VTOL space shuttle is not very difficult to make. There must only be the blowers that raise the craft to hover above the ground. When the altitude is above the trees or buildings the system can start its jet engines or nuclear jet engines. The blowers are for silent travel. Jet engine systems are for fast travel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_NB-36H
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-95LAL
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