(NewsNation) — NASA has successfully tested a new type of reactor fuel at its Marshall Space Flight Center that could help take humans to Mars soon.
Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) reactor technology could reduce the travel time for human missions to the red planet from the current six months to just 45 days, according to General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS), which is developing fuel for an NTP system with NASA.
“The recent testing results represent a critical milestone in the successful demonstration of fuel design for NTP reactors,” Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS, said in a statement. “We’re very encouraged by the positive test results proving the fuel can survive these operational conditions, moving us closer to realizing the potential of safe, reliable nuclear thermal propulsion for cislunar and deep space missions.”
The tests were also designed to see whether the fuel would withstand the “extreme operational conditions” of space.
“To the best of our knowledge, we are the first company to use the compact fuel element environmental test (CFEET) facility at NASA MSFC to successfully test and demonstrate the survivability of fuel after thermal cycling in hydrogen representative temperatures and ramp rates,” said Christina Back, vice president of GA-EMS Nuclear Technologies and Materials.
No human has ever set foot on Martian soil, though robotic rovers have been exploring the planet for over 25 years.
One of the main challenges is that Mars is far away, about 140 million miles from Earth on average.
“Rather than a three-day lunar trip, astronauts bound for Mars would be leaving our planet for roughly three years,” according to NASA.
Despite those hurdles, NASA is working on technology that could send astronauts to Mars as early as the 2030s.
NewsNation digital producer Andrew Dorn contributed to this report.