Nerva

:Marcus Cocceius Nerva was also the name of a Roman emperor

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NERVA is an acronym for Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application. It was a Nuclear thermal rocket. The NERVA rocket engine was based on Kiwi nuclear reactor technology. In the early 1960s NASA planned to use NERVA to power a RIFT (Reactor-In-Flight-Test) nuclear stage to be launched in the early 1970s. The completed NERVA would be a nuclear powered upper stage for the Saturn V, which would allow the upgraded Saturn to launch interplanetary payloads. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center had the development responsibility for the rocket stage. The program was cancelled in 1972.

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Nerva: :Marcus Cocceius Nerva was also the name of a Roman emperor...

Roman emperor: "Roman Emperor" is the title historians use to refer to rulers of the Roman Empire, after the epoch conventionally named the Roman Republic. In ancient Rome there was no actual title of "Roman Emperor", and there was never a single office corresponding to it. Rather, the title "Roman Emperor" is a c...

Nuclear thermal rocket: In a nuclear thermal rocket a working fluid, usually hydrogen, is heated in a high temperature nuclear reactor, and then expands through a rocket nozzle to create thrust. The nuclear reactor's energy replaces the chemical energy of the reactive chemicals in a traditional rocket engine. Due to the hi...