NERVA Mars Mission

Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application

Mission Profile

NERVA Mars Mission was a 1960s NASA concept for a crewed Mars expedition powered by Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application propulsion, studied under the Apollo Applications Program. The vehicle would have used a Saturn V-class stack topped with a NERVA nuclear thermal upper stage that achieves roughly twice the specific impulse of chemical engines, dramatically reducing propellant mass for the long interplanetary journey. Standing 111 meters tall, the multi-stage concept represented the most ambitious application of the nuclear thermal propulsion research that ran from 1955 to 1973 before funding was cancelled.