"While a chemical rocket works by igniting some kind of flammable chemical and then forcing the exhaust gases out a nozzle. Thanks to good old Newton’s third law, you know, for every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction, the rocket receives a thrust in the opposite direction from the expelled gases.
A nuclear rocket works in a similar way. A marble-sized ball of Uranium fuel undergoes the process of fission, releasing a tremendous amount of heat. This heats up a hydrogen to almost 2,500 C which is then expelled out the back of the rocket at high velocity. Very very high velocity, giving the rocket two to three times the propulsion efficiency of a chemical rocket.
Remember the 8 months I mentioned for a chemical rocket? A nuclear thermal rocket could cut the transit time in half, maybe even 100 day trips to Mars. Which means less resources consumed by the astronauts, and a lower radiation load.
And there’s another big benefit. The thrust of a nuclear rocket could allow missions to go when Earth and Mars aren’t perfectly aligned. Right now if you miss your window, you have to wait another 2 years, but a nuclear rocket could give you the thrust to deal with flight delays."
https://www.universal-sci.com/headlines/2019/7/3/earth-to-mars-in-100-days-the-power-of-nuclear-rockets
A nuclear rocket works in a similar way. A marble-sized ball of Uranium fuel undergoes the process of fission, releasing a tremendous amount of heat. This heats up a hydrogen to almost 2,500 C which is then expelled out the back of the rocket at high velocity. Very very high velocity, giving the rocket two to three times the propulsion efficiency of a chemical rocket.
Remember the 8 months I mentioned for a chemical rocket? A nuclear thermal rocket could cut the transit time in half, maybe even 100 day trips to Mars. Which means less resources consumed by the astronauts, and a lower radiation load.
And there’s another big benefit. The thrust of a nuclear rocket could allow missions to go when Earth and Mars aren’t perfectly aligned. Right now if you miss your window, you have to wait another 2 years, but a nuclear rocket could give you the thrust to deal with flight delays."
https://www.universal-sci.com/headlines/2019/7/3/earth-to-mars-in-100-days-the-power-of-nuclear-rockets