NERVA Engine

The NERVA was an experimental nuclear engine (NERVA is an acronym for Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Applications). Rather than any sort of combustion as in an ordinary rocket engine, the NERVA operated by running hydrogen through a nuclear reactor, heating the gas in this way.

Since NERVA was to be used for a manned Mars mission, NERVA was cancelled when funding for the space program in general and a Mars mission in particular was cut in the early 1970s.

This appears to be the NERVA XE engine. It is displayed in front of Building 4205. This engine was previously displayed in the U.S. Space & Rocket Center's Rocket Park since before my first visit in 2002 until some time between June 2004 and June 2005. It was apparently moved here some time after F-1 engine F-4023 was erected there in October 2009.

Google Maps link.

As of now, I have not yet sorted through all of my pictures of the NERVA, but some other page references this location. Thus, this is a "place holder" version right now, with only the pictures actually referenced. Come back some time later to see if I've finished up, or drop me an email to request me to prioritize the rest of these pictures.