NASA will test nuclear-powered rockets to send astronauts to Mars.
NASA will send nuclear-powered rockets to Mars
Boffins at the space agency believe that the new rockets will slash the time it takes to get to the red planet from seven months to 45 days and speed up the search for alien life.
NASA have teamed up with the US Government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to put a thermal nuclear rocket engine in space by 2027.
Scientists plan to develop a pioneering rocketing propulsion system that is very different from the chemical-driven systems used in more than six decades of space travel as NASA aims to put humans on Mars at some point in the 2030s.
A NASA spokesman said: "Using a nuclear thermal rocket allows for faster transit time, reducing risk for astronauts.
"Reducing transit time is a key component for human missions to Mars as longer trips require more supplies and more robust systems."