However, Canadian engineers have recently introduced a new study that promises to reduce the travel time to the Red Planet to just 45 days.
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Reaching Mars within 45 days is still a challenge for scientists – Photo: GETTY IMAGES
According to the Daily Mail, NASA is planning to send the first astronauts to Mars in the mid-2030s. Around the same time, China is also racing to fulfill its ambition of sending humans to set foot on the Martian surface.
However, the required time for the historic journey between Earth and Mars is too long, taking up to 500 days. Therefore, many scientists are researching ways to shorten this duration.
Recently, engineers from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, have developed an idea for a laser-thermal propulsion system that could significantly shrink the trip to Mars.
In this system, a 10-meter-wide laser array from Earth would be projected into space. A reflector would direct this laser array towards a combustion chamber placed at the back of the spacecraft.
The laser would heat up the combustion chamber containing hydrogen plasma, thereby generating an extremely powerful thrust. Emmanuel Duplay, the lead author of the study, explained that the ground-based laser array stops exerting its influence once the spacecraft achieves a stable velocity of 17 km/s.
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Simulation of laser-thermal propulsion technology – Photo: Emmanuel Duplay
Upon reaching Mars’ orbit, the spacecraft would still maintain a travel speed of up to 16 km/s. Within 45 days, the spacecraft would arrive at Mars.
Reaching Mars in under 45 days is currently a challenge for NASA. Researchers believe that this limitation could be overcome by using nuclear pulse propulsion rockets. However, this approach carries the risk of radiation leakage.
Laser-thermal propulsion is not entirely new and was first studied in the 1970s. However, the plan to use this mechanism to send spacecraft to Mars by the engineering team from McGill University will require time to verify its applicability and operational costs.
Emmanuel Duplay suggests that the initial missions to Mars in the 2030s may not utilize laser-thermal propulsion technology, and a laser-thermal spacecraft mission to Mars may be initiated around 2040.