I was also wondering about this. How exactly are they powering it with a nuclear source? Nuclear power comes in two forms, (as far as I know). A) Steam B) Peltier Seebeck effect (often used in space probes). Neither of which is useful here. Though I did hear of theoretical spacecraft that used timed mini nuclear explosions behind the ship to propel it forward, but by mini, it was still on a much larger scale than an average missile.

It's pretty amazing. Sony doing something non-proprietary. What are they going to do next, use SD cards?!

"for no return other than glory and prestige." I wouldn't say that's entirely true: http://science.howstuffworks.com/ten-nasa-inventions1.htm http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/spinoffs2.shtml Some of these I would say were driven by NASA, but not necessarily invented.