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Asked by anon-379408 on 18 Jan 2024.
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Andrew Maynard answered on 18 Jan 2024:
There’s no reason scientifically why not (and back in the 1960’s the US did actually launch a nuclear reactor into space – it was called SNAP-10A). There are lots of social, environmental and political reasons why this may not be a good idea — including a international bans on nuclear weapons in space, which may impact rockets powered by nuclear reactors.
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Carl Peter Robinson answered on 22 Jan 2024:
I personally don’t know, but my work colleague who is an engineer says yes! But he caveated that with ensuring extensive testing and risk management be put in place if it were attempted. While it is a cleaner alternative to the current fossil-fuel based method, you are basically making a nuclear missile of sorts, and if something goes wrong the consequences would be very high.
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