Elon Musk Proposes Controversial Nuclear Rockets to Speed Up Spaceflight to Mars

Mars — or anywhere else — in half the time.

by Mike Brown
July 27, 2019

Nuclear thermal rockets would be “a great area of research for NASA,” Elon Musk declared Monday. The SpaceX CEO highlighted how the alternative to rocket fuel could unlock faster travel times around the solar system, a keen area of interest as his firm develops plans to create a planet-hopping civilization.

While the idea may conjure up scenes from Chernobyl, its proponents suggest that astronauts may reduce the amount of radiation exposure endured by astronauts. Deep space already hits travelers with high doses, and while hosting a nuclear reactor on board a spaceship would create its own radiation, that would be outweighed by the reduced time spent on the trip.

“To be clear: good for in-space transit, but not recommended for Earth to orbit!” Musk stated via Twitter.