Marcos Fernandez Tous

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Propulsion technology helps rockets get off the ground. Joel Kowsky/NASA via AP

AI is making spacecraft propulsion more efficient – and could even lead to nuclear‑powered rockets

Marcos Fernandez Tous, University of North Dakota; Preeti Nair, University of North Dakota; Sai Susmitha Guddanti, University of North Dakota, and Sreejith Vidhyadharan Nair, University of North Dakota

A subset of AI called reinforcement learning is helping scientists improve nuclear fuel technology, which they could use to power spacecraft and rockets.
As this illustration of the Apollo VIII command module reentering Earth shows, heat shields protect the crew capsule from high temperatures. NASA Johnson Space Center

NASA’s crew capsule had heat shield issues during Artemis I − an aerospace expert on these critical spacecraft components

Marcos Fernandez Tous, University of North Dakota

It’s a good idea to make sure your spacecraft can take the heat that comes with reentering Earth’s atmosphere before you put people in it.

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