Lynchburg company creates out-of-this-world technology

Lynchburg, Virginia – “Virginia isn’t just a place for lovers. Virginia is now for space,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

A space effort decades in the making could land on a Lynchburg company.

“The scope of opportunity is expanding dramatically,” said Sen. Tim Kaine.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson visited BWXT’s Innovation Campus with Senator Tim Kaine to learn about nuclear technology that will help astronauts fly faster into space.

Currently, a trip to Mars takes more than a year.

“You can go to the moon in four days, but going to Mars takes six to eight months, depending on the alignment of the planets. Then you have to stay there for a long time to adjust the alignment of the planets. 6 I could be back in ~8 months,” Nelson said.

Administrator Nelson hopes the work BWXT is doing will shorten that time.

“If the rocket propulsion developed here can get us there much faster than the first human trip to Mars, we could sprint to Mars,” Nelson said.

The research Nelson is referring to is a complex science, but essentially involves developing and testing the use of nuclear-fueled heat engines to propel rockets to Mars.

Sen. Kaine said Virginia’s space exploration efforts should not be overlooked.

“The fact that BWXT in Lynchburg will be visibly connected not only to Navy missions, but also to space missions, is going to be very important,” Cain said.

Nelson said we are at a stage in space exploration that was previously unimaginable.

“We make the impossible possible. That’s what’s so interesting about NASA,” Nelson said.

NASA hopes to make the first human expedition to Mars in 2040.