Public interest and recent accomplishments in civil and scientific spaceflight are running at historically high levels. The United States lands rovers on Mars and flies ‘helicopters’ through its tenuous atmosphere. SpaceX and NASA are partnering for three successful human spaceflight launches from U.S. soil to the International Space Station within the past year. Any NASA administration has a responsibility to execute successfully and safely the programs underway. But equally important is the imperative to make the right kinds of investment decisions for the future. Nuclear thermal propulsion is the most promising technology to accomplish these goals. Chemical rockets combust a fuel and oxidizer to generate a hot gas at high pressure that is then vented through a nozzle at very high speed to create thrust.
Source: https://spacenews.com/op-ed-
