Presented by NASA, this Aeronautics and Space Highlights report shows the “Year of Apollo” — 1968. It includes footage of the launch of the Saturn V rocket, proved ready for trips to the Moon, and satellites including Ogo, Pioneer and Orbiting Astronautical Laboratory, and the VTOL flight tests and lifting body tests. The film shows the end of the Surveyor program at 1:30, with various shots of the Surveyor landers. Dr. William Pickering of JPL is interviewed. JPL’s planetary studies are shown, including a spherical landing pod. A team goes to the Antarctic to study Mars. The study of the sun is described with satellites, with the Geophysical Observatory OGO-5 studying the atmosphere. Radio Astronomy Explorer is shown and described. Lifting bodies are shown including the HL-10, at the 7:00 mark. The X-15 is shown at the end of its lifespan, with 8 final flights in 1968 (7:30 mark). The XB-70 Valkerie is also shown at the 8 minute mark, making research flights. The VTOL experimental aircraft are shown at the 8:20 mark, including a Harrier Jump Jet. Various studies are shown of airport runway surfaces, including grooving of highways and runway strips. At the 10:00 mark, nuclear engines are seen being tested along with the Atomic Energy Commission. The film also includes extensive coverage of Apollo including the Apollo 5 and 6 missions. Two unmanned, and two manned missions were conducted in 1968.
The Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application (NERVA) was a U.S. nuclear thermal rocket engine development program that ran for roughly two decades. NERVA was a joint effort of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and NASA, managed by the Space Nuclear Propulsion Office (SNPO) until both the program and the office ended at the end of 1972.
NERVA demonstrated that nuclear thermal rocket engines were a feasible and reliable tool for space exploration, and at the end of 1968 SNPO certified that the latest NERVA engine, the NRX/XE, met the requirements for a manned Mars mission. Although NERVA engines were built and tested as much as possible with flight-certified components and the engine was deemed ready for integration into a spacecraft, much of the U.S. space program was cancelled by Congress before a manned visit to Mars could take place.
NERVA was considered by the AEC, SNPO and NASA to be a highly successful program; it met or exceeded its program goals. Its principal objective was to “establish a technology base for nuclear rocket engine systems to be utilized in the design and development of propulsion systems for space mission application”. Virtually all space mission plans that use nuclear thermal rockets use derivative designs from the NERVA NRX or Pewee.The Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application (NERVA) was a U.S. nuclear thermal rocket engine development program that ran for roughly two decades. NERVA was a joint effort of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and NASA, managed by the Space Nuclear Propulsion Office (SNPO) until both the program and the office ended at the end of 1972.
NERVA demonstrated that nuclear thermal rocket engines were a feasible and reliable tool for space exploration, and at the end of 1968 SNPO certified that the latest NERVA engine, the NRX/XE, met the requirements for a manned Mars mission. Although NERVA engines were built and tested as much as possible with flight-certified components and the engine was deemed ready for integration into a spacecraft, much of the U.S. space program was cancelled by Congress before a manned visit to Mars could take place.
NERVA was considered by the AEC, SNPO and NASA to be a highly successful program; it met or exceeded its program goals. Its principal objective was to “establish a technology base for nuclear rocket engine systems to be utilized in the design and development of propulsion systems for space mission application”. Virtually all space mission plans that use nuclear thermal rockets use derivative designs from the NERVA NRX or Pewee.
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