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Dueling technologies would harness atoms for faster spaceflight

An artist’s illustration shows Ultra Safe Nuclear’s concept for a fission-powered spacecraft engine. Credit: Ultra Safe Nuclear

After decades of dormancy, the concept of spacecraft nuclear propulsion has returned to prominence. Projects from NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in partnership with the Department of Energy are looking to test the technology in space as soon as 2027.

Space-based research brings billions in value to medicine

NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor mixes protein crystal samples onboard the ISS in the search for new medicines. Credit: JAXA/NASA

Every year, NASA turns $10 billion in research and development funding into roughly 1,000 technology reports and 100 new patents.

INSIGHT: White House strategy key to future space workforce

It is the year 2044 and you have been assigned to help manage the extraction of rare earth elements (REEs) including neodymium, dysprosium, and europium from an approaching asteroid.