Ion engine will deliver to Mars in 39 days

While NASA is trying once again to send astronauts to the moon, the heroes who visited it 40 years ago say that there is nothing interesting on the moon . According to them, a really interesting goal is Mars. But critics argue that flying to Mars can be unbearably difficult. Six months in outer space in only one direction - is it possible to transfer this without harm to health? Unknown However, there is a way out. Now scientists have begun testing a new ion engine that can reduce travel time to just 39 days. About the same time, ships with European settlers traveled to America a century ago.

Ion enginewell known to us from science fiction novels. The principle of its operation is the ionization of gas and its acceleration by an electrostatic field. Ions give much less thrust than chemical fuel, so such an engine will not be able to give the rocket even its first cosmic speed. But if you launch it in space, then it can work literally for years on end, accelerating the ship to unprecedented speeds.

Some space missions have already used such engines, including the Japanese ship Hayabusa (2005, flight to the asteroid Itokawa), as well as the American spaceship Dawn, which launched in September 2007 to the asteroids Vest and Ceres.

But a new engine model called VASIMR (Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket) will be hundreds of times more powerful than previous ion engines due to the use of not standard metal gratings in the process of accelerating argon ions , but a radio frequency generator that does not come into physical contact with the gas like gratings .

The engine was developed by Ad Astra Rocket, which was founded in 2005 by a specialist in plasma physics and former astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz. Two weeks ago, at the headquarters of Ad Astra Rocket, the first successful testing of a new engine took place ( video ).

The creation of plasma occurs in the first stage of ion engines. In the second stage, using a powerful electromagnetic field, the ions are heated to a temperature of millions of degrees, as in the center of the sun. Ions fly out of the nozzle and push the rocket in the opposite direction.

Now the tests of the second stage of the VASIMR engine have begun. There is already an agreement with NASA to install a new engine on the International Space Station in 2012 or 2013.

In a lightweight version, the VASIMR ion engine can operate exclusively on solar energy. This is enough to transport goods in Earth orbit or to the moon. But to get to Mars, you need a more serious source of energy. Specifically, 1000 times more energy is needed than solar panels can provide. Apparently, such an engine would need a portable nuclear reactor. Similar technologies were developed back in the USSR in the 60s, although they were never tested in space. Apparently, now their time has come.

The possibility of reaching Mars in 39 days on an ion engine with a nuclear reactor was recently discussed by the new director of NASA. He said that the space agency has allocated small scholarships for research in this area, and he hopes to cooperate with private business, for example, with the same Ad Astra Rocket.