For science fiction enthusiasts, Mars is a natural place of wonder. It has been researched extensively and is well-known, but it is also distinct and distant enough to inspire fantastical escapades. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is targeting Mars for similar reasons.
NASA is spending money on a new rocket technology that might drastically cut the amount of time it takes to go to the Red Planet—from six months to two—and therefore change the face of human space exploration.
It is intended to send personnel there in the 2030s. Radiation exposure, the effects of zero gravity, and long periods of solitude are just a few of the serious health concerns that the astronauts face throughout the lengthy voyage.
Severe disorders, such as cancer, brain impairment, bone loss, and cardiovascular disease, are more common in this population.
Reducing the amount of time spent traveling to and from space is essential to reducing these health risks. NASA has allocated $725,000 toward the development of the Pulsed Plasma Rocket (PPR) system, an innovative device.
NASA stated that technology like PPR holds the potential to revolutionize space exploration, and it might lead people beyond Mars in the future.
The PPR is an efficient propulsion technology that produces a great deal of thrust using bursts of superheated plasma. Thanks to funding from NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program, it is already in its second phase of development.
The second part of the project, which will start this month, will center on constructing a shielded spaceship powered by PPR for human journeys to Mars, refining the engine design, and conducting proof-of-concept testing.
An impulse lasting exactly five minutes causes the PPR to produce a thrust equal to ten thousand newtons. A spaceship with PPR that could transport four or six people could reach speeds of about 100,000 miles per hour.