Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Technology Maturation

NTP is an open-ended project focused on developing enabling technologies for nuclear thermal propulsion and demonstrating the robust functionality of those technologies through ground and flight testing. NTP systems have capabilities that can be directly leveraged, or readily evolved, for future NASA missions that include cis-lunar operating systems, deep-space science systems, and small and large cargo transportation systems for Mars human exploration. The technology challenges NTP is focused on solving are primarily driven by the extreme operational requirements for the fission reactor. Technology maturation investments are focused on finding solutions to the technology gaps for a reactor operating at temperatures exceeding 2800 K with a flowing hydrogen environment. The coupled effects between an operating reactor, integrated turbine machinery, and the thermal/neutronic balance also require investment in modeling and simulation capabilities to design NTP systems and predict how they will work in space.