Editing Project Prometheus (section)

{{short description|NASA nuclear electric propulsion project 2003-2006}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2010}}
[[Image:Ion Engine Test Firing - GPN-2000-000482.jpg|thumb|right|Nuclear reactors could be used to power [[ion engine]]s such as this one used on [[Deep Space 1]].]]
'''Project Prometheus ('''also known as '''Project Promethian)''' was established in 2003 by [[NASA]] to develop [[Nuclear power|nuclear-powered]] systems for long-duration space missions.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=David W. |title=NASA's "Nuclear Option" May Be Crucial for Getting Humans to Mars |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasas-nuclear-option-may-be-crucial-for-getting-humans-to-mars/ |access-date=2023-01-04 |website=Scientific American |language=en}}</ref> This was NASA's first serious foray into [[Nuclear propulsion|nuclear spacecraft propulsion]] since the cancellation of the [[Project Timberwind#Space Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Program|SNTP]] project in 1995. The project was planned to design, develop, and fly multiple deep space missions to the outer planets.

The project was cancelled in 2005, due to other demands on NASA's budget.<ref>
{{Cite book | last = The National Academy of Sciences
| title = Launching Science: Science Opportunities Provided by NASA's Constellation System
| publisher = The National Academies Press | year = 2009 | location = Washington, DC
| page = 18
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=wOTXYbC-c14C&pg=PA18
| isbn = 978-0-309-11644-2}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Its budget shrank from $252.6 million in 2005<ref>{{Cite report | title=Prometheus Project Final Report | publisher = NASA/JPL| date = October 1, 2005 | page = 191}}</ref> to only $100 million in 2006, $90 million of which was for closeout costs on cancelled contracts. The name "Project Prometheus" was then unexpectedly reused and repurposed into the unrelated ''Project Prometheus Training Center'' online HTML5 game developed by Ignition Interactive and published by [[20th Century Fox]] on the official website for the 2012 Ridley Scott unrelated science fiction film ''[[Prometheus (2012 film)|Prometheus]]''. That game was since unavailable since December 2016.