How Can We Travel Faster In Space?

http://education.jsc.nasa.gov/explorers/p4.html
Subject Matter Expert: Joseph Trevathan, Dan Woodard, and Victoria Friedensen

Since early times, people have looked into space and wondered about its mysteries. The vastness of space has opened our minds, but its size has limited our search. We want to explore distant worlds, but how can we travel faster so we can go farther into space?

Jet speed certainly isnt the answer. Imagine traveling by jet to the moon from Earth, about 386,000 km (240,000 miles). A jet traveling at 1,600 km/h (1,000 mph) would take about 240 hours or about 40 days to reach the moon.

Scientists and engineers clearly knew from the start that the only way to get into space is to use rockets and rocket propulsion. The vehicles and propulsion systems developed for the Apollo program were designed to reach the moon. Using a chemical propulsion system, it took the Apollo astronauts about 2.5 days to get to the moon, traveling at speeds faster than 39,000 km/h (more than 24,000 mph).

The space shuttle uses a chemical propulsion system based upon both liquid and solid propellants. It combines the features of a rocket, aircraft, and glider and is designed to carry astronauts, satellites, and other cargo into Earths orbit. Traveling at approximately 29,000 km/h (18,000 mph) the shuttle orbits Earth every 90 minutes.

By using current technology and a spacecraft powered by chemical rocket engines, a trip to Mars could take between six to nine months. Because of the alignment of Mars and Earth, our best chance to launch occurs every 26 months.

We need to find other ways to travel to Mars and beyond, and we are currently considering alternative propulsion systems.

Nuclear thermal propulsion allows a spacecraft to travel faster by providing a more efficient, and light weight system. We would not use nuclear propulsion systems until the spacecraft was far from Earth. Spacecraft would still be launched from Earth with chemical rocket engines or be built and launched in space. A nuclear thermal propulsion system could potentially be over 100 times more powerful than chemical systems of comparable weight. A system like this could easily cut down the time needed to travel to Mars and other places in our solar system.

NASA is studying a plasma-based propulsion system called project VASIMR (Variable-Specific-Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket). Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, the first Hispanic astronaut, is studying this system. VASIMR works by using a large electric power source (such as nuclear power) to then utilize hydrogen as a rocket propellant. Hydrogen is plentiful in the solar system, possibly allowing a VASIMR-powered spacecraft to be launched with only enough propellant to reach its destination. When it arrives, it could pick up more hydrogen to use as propellant for the return trip. According to NASA, a VASIMR flight to Mars could take a little over three months, compared to the six to nine months required by a conventional chemical rocket. Shorter flight times lessen an astronauts time in reduced gravity and decreases the time an astronaut is exposure to space radiation.

There is much that we want to see and explore in our Solar System and beyond. New propulsion systems will help us get there faster.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• space
• travel
• faster
• light
• speed
• distant
• worlds
• exploration
• mission
• to
• mars
• intergalactic
• jet
• earth
• solar
• system
• nuclear
• thermal
• propulsion
• scramjet
• ramjet
• VASIMR
• Magnetoplasma
• Rocket
• impulse
• engines
• hyperspace
• hyperspeed
• warp
• factor
• hydrogen
• vasimr
• power

[007shakers]

iligal imergrants found a new way to get out of the country

[Noogymonster]

Orbital Rail Gun

[deathrooster14]

@glasax7 If only... Hello Asari. :D

[SepradistPhantom]

@roncords Nah, people will never buy that. I know, lets get a little girl to narrate the trailer, people wouldn't say no to a little girl, would they?

[EuroUser1]

@roncords This is also my main concern about the subject. In fact, the video was uploaded before the Fukushima disaster.

[roncords]

yay! lets make rockets that "can't" explode (rockets never explode) carrying a nuclear reactor! :D

it's safe, and would not create a new chernobyl or fukushima in an altitude of 50 miles!

wow great idea!!

dejavue, as if I have heared of nuclear missiles before... i think it was something about the cold war...

no but seriously... with that technology we will sooner or later kill us all.

don't place a nuclear reactors on rockets! that's stupid!!!

[glasax7]

build a mass effect relay

[theFunnierWill211187]

we need to make it to the Gliese 581 System which is 20 light years away from Earth and 200 Trillion miles that's what we need to do, fuck Mars, it'll be cool to land there and all but were not ending space exploration there!

[DBDMotorsports]

If we can somehow mass produce anti-matter, we could have probably the most efficient engines ever. If you combine an apple of normal matter with an apple of anti matter you get an explosion bigger than the biggest bomb ever detonated lol. The entire mass off both converts to energy.

[deadlus16]

thats why nasa is experimenting with Plasma Rockets (Vasmir is the name of the project. They are somewhat safer and needs less fuel.

[komaki119]

@CATSHITONEMM a bad enough single nuclear accident could kill more people and decimate the land around it causing massive heath, social and economic problems than produced by fossil fuel related accidents in between incidences hate fossil fuels more than anything else i don't drive a car i cycle i use minimum amounts of fuels to run my house and i pride myself on being eco friendly, i know from experience we can do without both nuclear and fossil. solar, wind and electrolysis are the way to go

[komaki119]

nuclear is different its a dark and sinister fuel, you can get all kinds of cancers from radiation not to mention the explosive capability if it was reacted in space away from most of humanity id be cool with it.

fossil fuel related accidents from car crashes to explosions effect the immediate area and generally hurt the people affected you can usually count the amount of affected people. nuclear radiation can cause cancer years after exposure so no one ever knows the final death toll.