We need a quick means to get supplies to the planet while avoiding dangers
along the route if humanity are to maintain a long-term Mars
settlement.
According to scientists, a voyage to Mars using our existing rockets would
take over
seven
months, which is too long for easily supporting a continuous human
settlement, in NASA's opinion.
Therefore, new research from McGill University has suggested a solution
that will shorten that journey to just 45 days. All you need to do is board
a massive laser.
The problem: Recently, there has been a lot of talk about Mars thanks to
the Mars Rover Perseverance, Lockheed Martin's new Mars ascent vehicle, and
several people preparing to live there. Undoubtedly, scientists have their
sights set on it, and a crewed Mars expedition may soon be feasible.
"Creating such a system has no significant obstacles,"
However, getting people there is one thing. Another is keeping a colony
there.
A human base on Mars would require frequent replenishments of supplies,
including food, equipment, replacement parts, and anything else needed for
human existence that is not available on the planet. NASA also thinks it
takes too long for ships to go from Earth to our neighboring planet—seven
months, to be exact.
To considerably lessen exposure to galactic cosmic rays and solar storms,
we must drastically shorten that distance traveled.
According
to Phys.org, NASA issued a challenge to all engineers: come up with a
technique to send a payload to Mars that weighs at least 1,000 kilograms
(2,200 lbs on Earth), which is comparable to, in less than 45 days.
Emmanuel Duplay, the study's principal author, told Phys.org that "when
more humans undertake the journey to support a long-term colony, we will
require propulsion technologies that get us there faster—if only to escape
radiation threats."
Launch: To power an orbiting spacecraft in a race to Mars, the team plans
to use a 10-meter-wide laser array on Earth. The suggested laser would
provide an Earth-based force powerful enough to move a spacecraft without
bringing bulky fuel into orbit.
The laser would heat hydrogen plasma within the spaceship to provide such a
force. The ship would then be propelled toward Mars at a high speed by the
superheated hydrogen gas.
The concept, which they discussed in a study published in the
journal
Acta Astronautica, may allow for the rapid delivery of humans and supplies
to a Mars colony in comparison to the time required by rockets.
Laser arrays the size of a volleyball court may be used for speedy
transport missions of 1 ton, according to Duplay.
The team also suggests doing away with the requirement for chemical
propellants, which are typically used to slow and halt the spacecraft after
landing, in order to further reduce the ship's weight.
According
to Futurism, it would instead use Mars' atmosphere as a "aerobrake" to
decelerate the spacecraft.
The next stages involve overcoming the engineering difficulties of a
laser-powered thruster, Duplay told Freethink, "now that we established
there are no fundamental hurdles in constructing such a device." "We want to
ultimately develop a small-scale prototype," the researcher said. "We are
currently preparing an experiment to explore some of the heat transmission
elements of this system."
According
to Verve Times, Duplay predicts that a laser-thermal journey to Mars might
leave Earth 10 years after the start of the first human expeditions to the
planet, or around the middle of the 2040s.
"In my lifetime, I genuinely hope to witness humankind exploring and
settling other planets in the solar system. This initiative is focused on
just that. In addition to long-term scientific and economic activities in
space, laser-thermal propulsion is a technique that might possibly fuel a
future solar system economy, according to Duplay.
