Kurt Polzin, chief engineer of NASA's space nuclear propulsion project, and Robert Schleicher of General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems roughed out a nuclear rocket engine design on a napkin during a conference conversation last year. The concept remains at an early paper-planning stage, following a long tradition of major technical breakthroughs first appearing as napkin sketches, from Compaq's portable PC to Vishay's power resistor.
spectrum.ieee.org
· 2026-08-29
A new study published in Nature reveals that the interior beneath Mars' southern hemisphere is roughly 400 to 750 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the interior beneath its northern hemisphere. Researchers led by University of Arizona scientist Alexander Berne used gravity data to uncover this asymmetry, which contrasts with the long-held assumption that planetary interiors are generally uniform in temperature.
futurism.com
· 2026-08-29
NASA and industry engineers have outlined a synchronal bimodal nuclear rocket concept that pairs nuclear thermal propulsion with electric power generation using a single reactor and two separate fluid loops. The design avoids the complicated mode-switching valves of earlier bimodal reactor concepts while still delivering high thrust and steady electric power for spacecraft systems. Researchers say the approach could cut crewed Mars transit time from roughly 620 days down to 335 days or fewer.
spectrum.ieee.org
· 2026-08-26
SpaceX announced plans to construct a 125,000-acre launch facility in Louisiana, its largest to date, with construction starting next year. Named Starbase Louisiana, the site aims to support thousands of annual Starship missions to orbit, the Moon and Mars, with the first launch targeted for 2029. The project is expected to directly create over 3,000 jobs and generate more than 8,100 additional indirect jobs in the region.
bbc.co.uk
· 2026-08-26
Scientists modeled how Mars' gravity field shifts over time due to solar tides, using a technique that lets gravity harmonic coefficients vary periodically at annual, semi-annual and other frequencies within orbit-determination software. By tracking these small periodic gravity variations, they detected a thermal anomaly located beneath the boundary separating Mars' northern lowlands and southern highlands, known as the crustal dichotomy.
nature.com
· 2026-08-26
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