New Plasma Rocket Could Travel to Mars in 39 Days

[Ichingcarpenter]

"It's the most powerful plasma rocket in the world right now," says Franklin Chang-Diaz, former NASA astronaut and CEO of Ad Astra. The company has signed an agreement with NASA to test a 200-kilowatt VASIMR engine on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2013. The engine could provide periodic boosts to the ISS, which gradually drops in altitude due to atmospheric drag. ISS boosts are currently provided by spacecraft with conventional thrusters, which consume about 7.5 tonnes of propellant per year. By cutting this amount down to 0.3 tonnes, Chang-Diaz estimates that VASIMR could save NASA millions of dollars per year.


But Ad Astra has bigger plans for VASIMR, such as high-speed missions to Mars. A 10- to 20-megawatt VASIMR engine could propel human missions to Mars in just 39 days, whereas conventional rockets would take six months or more. The shorter the trip, the less time astronauts would be exposed to space radiation, which is a significant hurdle for Mars missions. VASIMR could also be adapted to handle the high payloads of robotic missions, though at slower speeds than lighter human missions.


Chang-Diaz has been working on the development of the VASIMR concept since 1979, before founding Ad Astra in 2005 to further develop the project. The technology uses radio waves to heat gases such as hydrogen, argon, and neon, creating hot plasma. Magnetic fields force the charged plasma out the back of the engine, producing thrust in the opposite direction. Due to the high velocity that this method achieves, less fuel is required than in conventional engines. In addition, VASIMR has no physical electrodes in contact with the plasma, prolonging the engine's lifetime and enabling a higher power density than in other designs.



In the VASIMR rocket, magnetic fields force the charged plasma out the back of the engine, producing thrust in the opposite direction.


Link: http://www.physorg.com/news174031552.html

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. wow.

106 years ago, a couple of out of work brothers tinkered enough to build a manned aircraft. 12 years later, planes had machine guns and bombs. 32 years later, the Germans developed a jet plane. 50 years later, breaking the speed of sound was no longer a dream, but a goal. and 50 years ago, launching a human into space, AND bringing him back alive was iffy, scary, and the subject of worldwide celebrations.

Now we are talking plasma drives.

[leveymg]

2. This is very cool. But, I assume it uses a reactor to provide energy to power the microwave emitter

Wouldn't one need to boost quite a bit of enriched uranium or plutonium into orbit to power this thing?

[phantom power]

7. That's the only way you're likely to achieve 10 megawatts.

[Ichingcarpenter]

8. The centrifuge to enhance the low grade uranium sent up to a space station

could be supplied by the Iranians........LOL... if there was a space tragedy then
low grade uranium sent up to it wouldn't pose as much as an environmental disaster vs using
plutonium then the assembly of the craft even the reactor and propulsion system could be sent up piecemeal.

This is propulsion unit that only works in space and is not yet meant for escaping earth's gravity.
The real development of this technology will be integrated with a Earth alliance on exploring beyond
the confines of our gravity.

H3 also has a potential to fuel this rather than nuclear and that's found in abundance on the moon,
so that place is an island we should use before we branch out, which we will one day.

[Orrex]

3. This was already discussed here a few months back

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=228&topic_id=54369&mesg_id=54369

Pretty cool stuff!

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. The engine was just tested last week and deemed successful

More on the NASA, Scientist, Astronaut.

Franklin Ramón Chang-Díaz (born April 5, 1950) is a Costa Rican-American engineer, physicist and former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of seven Space Shuttle missions, making him the record holder for most spaceflights (a record he shares with Jerry L. Ross). He was one of the first Hispanic or Latino Americans to go into space

Chang-Diaz was born in San José, Costa Rica to a father of Chinese descent and a Spanish Costa Rican mother, both Costa Rican-born<3>. He studied at La Salle School, then moved to the United States to finish his high school education. He earned a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Connecticut (where he joined the federal TRIO Student Support Services program) in 1973, and a Sc.D. degree in applied plasma physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1977. For his graduate research at MIT, Chang-Diaz worked in the field of fusion technology and plasma-based rocket propulsion.

Wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Chang-Diaz


More on the rocket technology : The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket, sometimes referred to as Electro-thermal Plasma Thruster, uses radio waves to ionize and to heat propellant and magnetic fields to accelerate the resulting plasma to generate thrust. This type of engine can be viewed as a variation (differing in the method of plasma acceleration) of the electrodeless plasma thruster. Neither type of engine has any electrodes. The main advantage of such designs is elimination of problems with electrode erosion. Furthermore, since every part of a VASIMR engine is magnetically shielded and does not come into direct contact with ionized plasma, the potential durability of this engine design is greater than other ion engine designs.

The engine design encompasses three parts: turning gas into plasma via helicon RF antennas; energizing plasma via further RF heating in an ICRF booster; and using electromagnets to create a magnetic nozzle to convert the plasma's built-up thermal energy into kinetic force. By varying the amount of energy dedicated to RF heating and the amount of propellant delivered for plasma generation VASIMR is capable of either generating low-thrust, high-specific impulse exhaust or relatively high-thrust & low-specific impulse exhaust
he Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket, sometimes referred to as Electro-thermal Plasma Thruster, uses radio waves to ionize and to heat propellant and magnetic fields to accelerate the resulting plasma to generate thrust. This type of engine can be viewed as a variation (differing in the method of plasma acceleration) of the electrodeless plasma thruster. Neither type of engine has any electrodes. The main advantage of such designs is elimination of problems with electrode erosion. Furthermore, since every part of a VASIMR engine is magnetically shielded and does not come into direct contact with ionized plasma, the potential durability of this engine design is greater than other ion engine designs.

Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VASIMR

[Orrex]

5. Ah! Even cooler!

Let's go to Mars!

[Lochloosa]

6. First Contact

just saying

[Greyskye]

9. Now we're talking.

39 days is low enough to make a colony feasible. :wow:

Assuming you could fund it, of course. But technologically, it's doable.

[and-justice-for-all]

10. Cool, now there is a way off this insane asylum...nt