A spacecraft with a nuclear engine can reach Mars in one to one and a half months and perform many maneuvers. According to TASS, this was announced by the head of the state corporation "Rosatom" Sergei Kiriyenko during his speech at the Federation Council.
“The nuclear-powered power plant makes it possible to reach Mars in one to one and a half months, providing the ability to maneuver and accelerate. With a conventional engine, a flight to Mars would have been about a year and a half without the possibility of going back,”he said.
Work on the creation of a corresponding transport energy module began in 2010. In 2012, a technical project was completed. The plans included the creation of the installation itself in 2015, and by 2018 - a transport and energy module ready for flight tests.
In the period from 1970 to 1988, 32 spacecraft with a thermoelectric nuclear power plant were launched in the USSR. The nuclear rocket engine was developed and tested at the Semipalatinsk test site in the period from 1960 to 1980.
Modern interplanetary stations cover the distance between Earth and Mars (in the most favorable period) in more than six months. For example, the Mars Science Laboratory mission, during which the heaviest man-made object (Curiosity rover) was delivered to the surface of the Red Planet, took 254 days.