“The space domain is critical to modern commerce, scientific discovery, and national security. The ability to accomplish leap-ahead advances in space technology through the DRACO nuclear thermal rocket program will be essential for more efficiently and quickly transporting material to the Moon and eventually, people to Mars.”
–Statement by Dr. Stefanie Tompkins, director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), regarding its partnership with NASA on the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program to design and develop a nuclear thermal rocket engine that can bring a crewed mission to the Red Planet. It’s another encouraging step as we eventually move from the Moon to Mars.
Our Awesome Universe 