Bimodal and Hybrid Nuclear Thermal / Nuclear Electric Propulsion Concepts for Human Mars Missions

As NASA and the Department of Defense continue to invest in space nuclear power and propulsion (SNPP) capabilities for both Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) and Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP), opportunities exist to examine vehicle concepts that leverage a combination of these capabilities to enable more advanced mission capabilities. This paper provides an overview of a recent L3Harris study on one such application of a future SNPP capability: bimodal NTP / NEP concepts for a human mission to Mars.