MOSCOW. (Yury Zaitsev, for RIA Novosti)...
accidents. This problem has proved to be extremely difficult to resolve, unlike similar work on the reliability of nuclear reactors.Moreover, nuclear rocket engines emit powerful radioactive exhaust jets streams making it impossible to test and upgrade them on Earth. Consequently, it is still unclear whether inter-planetary spacecraft should be fitted with nuclear rocket engines or solar-powered electric propulsion units.
Yury Zaitsev is an academic adviser with the Russian Academy of Engineering Sciences.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author"s and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
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