Conceptual Mars mission using 3 VASIMR engines

This is NASA's conceptual human mission to Mars using 3 plasma rockets (VASIMR), 3 nuclear reactors (similar to the reactors used on nuclear submarines). The reactors are extended on booms in order to minimize the amount of shielding required to shield the spacecraft.




The large fuel tanks would provide shielding astronauts against radiation from the Van Allen belts during the Earth departure phase and also against cosmic radiation once outside the influence of Earth's magnetic field.

An electric propulsion thruster such as VASIMR would provide a faster travel time compared to using chemical rockets. The VASIMR engines would speed up the spacecraft towards Mars and then slow down the spacecraft once past the half way point from Earth to Mars. Ion engines in general provide a low amount of thrust (up to several Newtons or tens of Newtons), but do so for many hours or months. In this way, a spacecraft with a given mass can continually speed up and attain velocities much higher than with chemical rockets. A mission to Mars using plasma propulsion would also have an abort capability should something go wrong early on in the mission, chemical rockets do not provide for this contingency.

www.adastrarocket.com

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  Science & Technology

[Helge129]

LOL! You're delusional.

[WowbaggerInfinite]

LOL! Idiot.

[BosonCollider]

To get to mars in the least ammount of time for a given mission cost.

If you have a fixed ammount of power from the reactor, you can either use it to fire loads of propellant slowly for raw thrust or only a little, but fast, to save fuel. It turns out that the mass of propellant needed (and thus the cost of the mission) will increase exponentially with the raw thrust.

So by accelerating slowly, you maximize the top speed that can be attained for a given ammount of money invested.

[Arbarano]

So how do you answer to DKM717 about the 30-days circling around Earth?

[Jed Stammler]

Ion drives are weak. The VASIMR is extremely powerful.

[chris casey]

This made me feel how awesome it would be to see the beautiful red planet. I really like the fact it was a round trip.

[sybokanew]

I call dibs on being the first person to have their picture taken by the face:)

[Oxley Pilot]

Thanks so they take all their fuel with oxygen included, so think about this ... we use air to power our planes and cars - it gets blown through the engine ignited and there ya go ... what about space ... it has "nothing" yet we can use ion drives to move, we should look at what space has in its nothingness, there must be something there don't you agree? My theory here is if you can push against nothing then something is there.

[BunicuShogun]

the VASIMR rocket is a upgraded version of the ion engine currently in development by NASA. It does use gas I think it is Xenon. This rocket achieves higher tempereatures and therefore thrust than the standard ion engine.

[MackeMas]

@OxleyPilot Conventional rockets, in addition to their fuel, bring oxygen in a separate tank, which is pumped into a combustion chamber along with the fuel to create a burn.

[Oxley Pilot]

Questions: Do normal rockets work in space ? I mean without giving it air so it can fire it would not work rite? is that why everyone is trying other forms of propulsion in space like plasma? Will it give more thrust the plasma ? and last one plasma uses electricity ... so agree neuclear is the way to go after all we have nuclear subs etc. so how does it "fire" if i can use that word - does it require any extra gasses ?

[xXMarsOzXx]

DPC sent me here