Could NASA Get To Pluto Faster?

As NASA's New Horizons spacecraft winds its way on a nine-year journey toward Pluto and the outer solar system, at least one expert wonders why such missions need to take so long.

Paul A. Czysz, a 30-year veteran of the industry, continuing consultant to the U.S. military and professor emeritus of aerospace engineering at St. Louis University, thinks NASA can curb the travel time to the outer planets from nearly a decade to a matter of weeks - something he considers critical for the human exploration of the solar system. What's required, he said, is a renewed commitment to nuclear propulsion.

Czysz, who with Claudio Bruno has just published the book, "Future Spacecraft Propulsion Systems" (Springer-Verlag Telos) explored this possibility recently in an interview with SpaceDaily.com.

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