Two years ago, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) set out to go where no man has gone before -- and more specifically, to go where no man (or woman) has gone before in a way no human has ever traveled: by nuclear-powered spaceship.

Offering $27.6 million in compensation, DARPA enlisted General Atomics, Blue Origin, and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) in an 18-month project to design a "Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations" (DRACO). In this effort, Blue Origin would compete with Lockheed Martin to develop the spacecraft design, while General Atomics would focus on developing the nuclear thermal power (NTP) engine to power it. (The engine would use nuclear fuel to heat hydrogen propellant which, being expelled, would move the vessel through space).

Two years after the effort began, we have some progress to report.

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Source Fool.com