Russia's new nuclear engine to enable spacecrafts to reach mars in 45 days
03:10, 3 March 2016
MOSCOW. KAZINFORM - A nuclear engine currently being developed in Russia by the nuclear agency Rosatom and the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) will allow a spaceship to reach Mars in an unprecedentedly short period of just 1.5 months, Rosatom's General Director Sergei Kirienko said Wednesday.
According to Kirienko, using existing technology, a spacecraft takes around 18 months to reach Mars and it has no way of returning back to Earth or to maneuver while en route.
"Installing a nuclear engine will allow [a spacecraft] to fly to Mars in a month and a half and to come back, as the spacecraft would retain the ability to maneuver," Kirienko said, addressing the Federation Council.
Moscow is a world leader in the sphere of atomic energy. At the moment, Rosatom, which incorporates many enterprises and nuclear institutions, is constructing 41 nuclear reactors, of which 34 are abroad, Sputniknews.com reports.