Nuclear time journey mars
Less time traveling through space means less exposure to solar radiation - a recent study states that Mars missions should not exceed four years for crew safety - less risk of mechanical failures, and less of a health risk due to the muscle atrophy effects of zero-gravity.
This would reduce that estimated seven-month journey by approximately six months. It will accelerate gradually until it reaches a maximum speed of 34 miles (54 km) per second by the twenty-third day, making it four times faster than any existing chemical rocket. There is no abort procedure, the ship will not be able to change course, and if any failure occurred, mission control would have a 10-minute communications delay, meaning they could find themselves helplessly watching on as the crew slowly dies.Īd Astra's plasma rocket Vasimr, on the other hand, will sustain propulsion throughout the journey to the red planet. It’s just too long a trip." A conventional rocket must use its entire fuel supply in a single controlled explosion during launch before propelling itself towards Mars. That's why Díaz said in a 2010 interview with Popular Science that "chemical rockets are not going to get us to Mars. In the seven months NASA estimates it would take to fly humans to Mars, any number of catastrophic failures could occur.
Though Vasimr launch vehicles will still require chemical rockets to reach orbit, once there, the plasma engine (described in the video below) will be engaged, greatly improving the safety of the crew, according to the company.įour times faster than existing chemical rockets The goal for Ad Astra is to make much faster, but also much safer spaceflight possible - despite the fact that Vasimr rockets would send nuclear reactors hurtling through space at incredible speeds. Hot gas is then channeled, via magnetic fields, out of the back of the engine to propel it, in theory, at speeds of up to 123,000 mph (197,950 km/h). The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (Vasimr) rocket was designed to fly with an engine that uses nuclear reactors to heat plasma to two million degrees. Chang Díaz, Ad Astra's chairman and CEO, who flew on seven separate missions as a NASA astronaut, logging 1,601 hours in space. "The test is a major success, the culmination of years of trial-and-error testing and painstaking attention to detail and a handsome reward for the team's tenacity and dedication," said Franklin R. 'Years of trial-and-error testing' for Vasimr rocket