00:00For Mars, this means not six to nine months of transfer time anymore, but rather three to four.
00:07Some even talk about less than 40 days of transfer time to Mars.
00:12And that's not just a cosmetic difference. That not only halves the time the crew is exposed to
00:17cosmic radiation, it also makes it much easier to manage supplies, the crew's mental well-being,
00:22mission planning and emergency contingencies. Technically, NTP is anything but trivial.
00:28You have a reactor that reaches very high temperatures.
00:32You have hydrogen that's being pushed through this reactor structure.
00:35And you need materials that can withstand these temperatures.
00:39That don't sputter away or eaten away by the hydrogen or start to crumble radioactively.
00:46That's material science at the highest level.
