Nuclear powered shuttles during the Cold War

How things may have been… (image source: NASA)

So, NASA want to go to Mars, and maybe with some of Elon Musk’s vision, they will succeed, but there is still a long way to go.

50 years ago, during the throws of the Cold War, NASA was working on plans to regularly travel to the moon and even Mars.  At Wired, Damon Poeter delves into NASA’s archives to explore their nuclear shuttle program.  What he reveals is the NERVA I and II nuclear/hydrogen engine program that was to be the heart of the USA’s low-Earth orbit shuttle service to the moon and Mars.  It’s a lovely written and well researched article examining what NASA was willing to do if there was enough money, and can’t help but make me wonder how differently things may have looked today if the Cold War had continued.

Read on @ Wired