Apparently, I am a bit indecisive regarding an event that could possibly occur within the context of reality regarding nuclear thermal rockets, and I was thinking: is this space disaster scenario plausible: "The first manned Mars mission is launched under the Ares 1 rendezvous with the IMIS Endeavour. Shortly after docking with the Mission Module, the craft leaves Earth-Moon L2 for Mars. However, the mission ends in failure following a rupture in the reactor caused by micrometeorites punctures during Mars orbital insertion, rendering the crew stranded. This results in a huge national tragedy for the States as the crew is declared KIA due to extreme radiation poisoning several days later, thus delaying the launch of the Ares 2 mission by two years." I will be asking a separate question in a different site regarding the political and economic consequences. :P

If you are wondering: Integrated Manned Interplanetary Spacecraft (IMIS) was a Boeing 1968 study that was designed for a Mars mission around the 1980s - 1990s span of time, that never made it out of the drawing board. In other words, this: IMIS 1968 Encyclopedia Astronautica Article