For decades, nuclear propulsion has been a fixture of aerospace engineering proposals and government studies, always promising, never quite leaving the laboratory. That changes in 2028.

NASA’s Psyche mission, launched in 2023, will study a $10,000 quadrillion asteroid, with new research showing that its craters could reveal its true origin.

The U.S. space agency will aim to send a nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars—a first—in a bid to show that nuclear propulsion can be used to send missions into deep space

The mysterious party hat-shaped Mars object which perplexed experts has been identified as a naturally occurring rock shape attributed to Martian winds known to produce Earth-like shapes, NASA

NASA plans to launch its first nuclear-powered interplanetary spacecraft in 2028, a probe called Space Reactor-1 Freedom that will carry helicopters to Mars.

NASA’s new exploration strategy includes the rapid development of a nuclear-powered mission to Mars in 2028, leveraging Gateway hardware.

NASA's SR-1 Freedom mission, launching in 2028, will use nuclear electric propulsion to reduce Mars travel time, featuring a 20-KW reactor and autonomous helicopters to scout for water and safe landing zones.

NASA plans to launch a nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars by 2028, a major step for deep space exploration and its planned moon base.

The aerospace industry is high-stakes. To help chart a course for Perseverance, NASA has enlisted AI and a digital twin.