Posted on 04/01/2015 1:36:52 PM PDT by C19fan
Nasa has selected a variety of companies to work on projects to create advanced space technologies, including faster methods of propulsion. Other projects to be worked on include improved habitats for humans, and small satellites to explore deep space. And one of the companies in the 12 Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextStep) says they have an engine that could get humans to Mars in just 39 days.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Set Mars up as a bastion of free, individualist thinking and ban all collectivist travel. :)
Warming of interplanetary space is a real threat.....
I hope they have good brakes.
I could make it in 38 days back in the 70’s with a Hemi Challenger.
reverse polarity and warp is attainable.
Just slap an old nuclear powered engine from an aircraft carrier onto the ship and point.
You don’t want to do that. The Sidons will be along shortly...
That’s approximately 66,240 mph...not bad!
Space 1999? I actually have that episode on DVD.
Send all criminals, Muslims, and Liberals there post-haste. They will kill one another off.
Currently spacecraft are lunched and then coast to the Red Planet. Just a little extra push along the way to Mars drastically reduces the transit time. Heinlein’s “Torchship”.
Extra to APoD.
The article says that this new type of engine (VASIMIR) would probably need a nuclear power source.
In fact, whenever you want humans to go out far from Earth, or stay for a long time, nuclear is the only feasible solution to power needs - providing enough power per pound.
They have some prepared some great options already, like the low-power DUFF prototype, only one foot at its widest: http://ansnuclearcafe.org/2012/11/30/matinee-duff-space-reactor/
Russians have been putting up 10 KW reactors (TOPAZ) for decades. Wikipedia says (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_space): “In 2020, Roscosmos (the Russian Federal Space Agency) plans to launch a spacecraft utilizing nuclear-powered propulsion systems, which includes a small gas-cooled fission reactor with 1 MWe.”
A small reactor could provide high power to a habitat for ten years without refueling.
The bottom line is that nuclear reactors with plasma engines can really open up space for commercial activities and settlement, without any big technical breakthroughs needed - just the investment and government approval for the nukes.
In ten years, it could be possible to have a base on the Moon, out in cis-lunar space, and on Mars with plenty of power and a bunch of robots working away, if it was a high priority, and in twenty years if it a second tier effort, where Government just assists commercial ventures. After that, it is off to the races.
I was thinking just the other day about how big of a political circus it will be to decide who steps foot on Mars first. I would bet money that it will not be a white, Christian male.
They've got the best record when it comes to nuclear power safety.
Shouldn’t NASA be working on those moslem relations instead of all that silly space stuff?
The satellite is the size and weight of a baseball and will be launched by former Baltimore Orioles hurler Mike Quellar. But at Mike’s age, it is not expected to achieve Escape Velocity.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.