Technology

NASA and DARPA Talk about New Superior Propulsion Tech

Artist’s conception of a spacecraft enabled by nuclear thermal propulsion.

Artist’s conception of a spacecraft enabled by nuclear thermal propulsion.
Illustration: NASA

Two of essentially the most forward-thinking companies in the US are becoming a member of forces to foster the event of superior house propulsion. A hearth chat on the brand new collaboration is scheduled for Tuesday morning, and you may watch it stay proper right here.

The 2023 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) SciTech Discussion board is formally underway in Nationwide Harbor, Maryland. The theme for this yr’s confab is to “discover the frontiers of aerospace,” and it’ll run from at the moment via to Friday on the Gaylord Nationwide Resort & Conference Heart. Discussion board audio system will contact upon the way forward for house and planetary exploration, aeronautics, local weather analysis, and Earth sciences, amongst different matters.

Of observe is a panel dialogue to be held on Tuesday, January 24 at 10:00 a.m. ET, throughout which officers from NASA and the Protection Superior Analysis Initiatives Company, or DARPA—the Pentagon’s secretive analysis wing—will “talk about a collaboration between the companies to advance house propulsion applied sciences for each civilian and protection efforts,” because the AIAA describes the fireplace chat.

NASA Dwell: Official Stream of NASA TV

The session will likely be made out there on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the company’s web site. You’ll additionally be capable of watch it on the stay feed above.

NASA administrator Invoice Nelson will ship a keynote handle, after which Steven Howe, the previous director of the Heart for Area Nuclear Analysis (CSNR), will reasonable a two-person panel consisting of NASA deputy administrator Pam Melroy and DARPA director Stefanie Tompkins. Melroy has a reference to DARPA, as she served because the company’s deputy director of its tactical expertise workplace from 2013 to 2017.

The extent to which the panelists will delve into the small print isn’t clear, nevertheless it’d been nice to get some concrete data concerning the kinds of superior house propulsion applied sciences that NASA and DARPA will search to develop, together with descriptions of potential future purposes. Updates about ongoing initiatives, similar to spacecraft powered by nuclear thermal propulsion, would likewise be welcomed. NASA’s Revolutionary Superior Ideas (NIAC) program just lately granted Section I standing and $175,000 in funding to a College of Florida staff engaged on a nuclear engine idea that would take a spacecraft to Mars in simply 45 days.

This could make for an enchanting dialog, and I’m wanting ahead to studying concerning the collaboration and the way the 2 companies plan to work collectively.

Extra: Planes on Titan and Pipelines on the Moon: NASA Contemplating Some Wild Future Tech

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