Can NASA Cut The Travel Time To Mars Down By Half?

Yesterday I talked about how the astronauts are preparing for space travel by spending time in orbit around the moon in cislunar space.  The next task for NASA is to figure out how to shorten the journey it's going to take to the Red Planet.

"Right now it's about an eight-mission mission," according to NASA administrator Charlie Bolden.

There are a number of reasons why NASA wants to shorten the trip to Mars.  One of the most important reasons for this is to cut back on the exposure of harmful radiation that will bombard our astronauts who will travel there.  We don't feel the affects of these here on Earth, because our planet is protected by an atmosphere.  Out in the vacuum of space, however, the astronauts won't have that protection.

Another reason to try an shorten the trek is to cut down on the amount of time the astronauts will be in a zero-gravity environment.  Prolonged exposure to zero-gravity can have an adverse affect on the human body that's been conditioned to live in a gravity-filled environment.  These problems can include muscle atrophy, lengthening of the spine and eyesight deterioration.

To reach this goal, technology is going to have to improve.  Scott Seymour, the CEO and president of Aerojet Rocketdyne, said their company is currently working on a solar-electric propulsion system (SEP) that will boast a 5-kilowatt engine.  It'll take baby steps, though.  5 kilowatts is where they're at right now, and they're wanting to boost that up to 15 kilowatts.  After reaching that goal, they'd cluster them together for a more powerful engine.  In  the long run, Seymour is hoping that they can develop 50 to 100 kilowatt engines for future missions.  Solar is the best type of fuel for these engines, since in the vacuum of space, light is the only thing that they'll have a never ending supply of.  Not only that, but space on the rocket will be essential for supplies, so the less room they need for a chemical engine and it's fuel, the better.

We're still a long ways off in reaching our goals, but every day brings us one step closer to reaching the Red Planet.