Liquid Oxygen is HEAVY. A nuclear reactor would result in a weight REDUCTION.

Nope. From the wiki page:

Still, the lower thrust-to-weight ratio of nuclear thermal rockets versus chemical rockets (which have thrust-to-weight ratios of 70:1) and the large tanks necessary for liquid hydrogen storage mean that solid-core engines are best used in upper stages where vehicle velocity is already near orbital, in space "tugs" used to take payloads between gravity wells, or in launches from a lower gravity planet, moon or minor planet where the required thrust is lower.

In other words they fill a spot between chemical rockets and ion engines. In the vast majority of cases they either don't have enough TWR and can't compete with chemical rockets or there's enough time to use far more efficient ion engines.

It's kind of silly to talk about "the overall gross lift-off mass" without talking about thrust. From the very same wiki page:

Still, the lower thrust-to-weight ratio of nuclear thermal rockets versus chemical rockets (which have thrust-to-weight ratios of 70:1) and the large tanks necessary for liquid hydrogen storage mean that solid-core engines are best used in upper stages where vehicle velocity is already near orbital, in space "tugs" used to take payloads between gravity wells, or in launches from a lower gravity planet, moon or minor planet where the required thrust is lower.

These things are not going to replace chemical rockets - they're too heavy.

How is this any more than a revisiting of the ancient discredited NERVA/ROVER program which began in 1956 and dragged on to a miserable failed end in 1973?

That's exactly what it is. I think most people here realize that.

This shares the fundamental flaw of all rocket technology: the fact that any rocket has to carry and throw away a vast load of reaction mass. The Saturn V employed a total mass of 2970 tonnes to lift a mere 118 tonnes to LEO. But the actual raw energy needed to lift 118 tonnes to 200 km is E=mgh = 118,000 times 9.81 times 200,000 = 232 GJ, which is the quantity of energy contained in just 5.47 tonnes of gasoline. So the efficiency of the Saturn V was 0.184%, not because it was a "bad" rocket, but because it was a rocket.

Well, until someone comes up with a workable theory for a reactionless drive, we're stuck with reaction mass. But that doesn't mean we're stuck with chemical rockets - if you could accelerate you reaction mass to some nontrivial fraction of the speed of light you wouldn't need very much of it.

A very good chemical rocket will have an ISP of 450-460 seconds. A nuclear thermal rocket will have an ISP of around 900-1000, or roughly twice as "good".

Nuclear thermal rockets will be heavy, though, and that detracts from their efficiency.

I wonder if gas core nuclear rockets are so pie-in-the-sky nobody worked on them, or they're pie-in-the-sky because nobody worked on them. In theory you could get crazy ISP and thrust numbers from a gas core rocket.

If the speed of light really is absolute, it really won't matter. We'll never see them, and even communicating will be like sending a letter to the other side of the world in about AD 1300.

Who prosecuted you - the feds or the state of New Jersey?

The FBI doesn't bring charges. That's the prosecutor's job. Didn't you ever watch Law & Order? With all the spinoffs in sindication it's on pretty much 24 hours a day.

But what you're saying is true. 98% of prosecutions are pled out, and you know lots of those people are innocent. But the way the system is set up now they can throw 100 charges that all bring 3-5 years at you and all of the sudden you could be looking at 500 years in prison. Orrrrrr, you could take the plea and get three years.

Objectively it's smart to take the plea, too. On average people who go to court get 20% longer sentences.

Three felonies a day. We all do it. Congress has set up a situation such that if the feds really want you they can find things to charge you with. I don't have a lot of sympathy for this particular guy, but you're right.

You are an unattractive girl, mid 20s, who has glowing stars on the ceiling of her bedroom and who goes to hot yoga class without realizing that yoga pants are not for everyone. You are lazy and significantly overestimate your intelligence.

Mein Gott! I totally know her.