A similar spacecraft would take just a couple of days to reach Mars, and its construction seems to be only a matter of time. It is a fact that the power of chemical engines available today is not enough for space travel. You cannot develop high speed in space with a chemical engine. The maximum that humanity has achieved with this engine is “Voyager 1” with its Georgian “Chakrulo” on a golden disc, which will move through space at a speed of 56,000 kilometers per hour. For space travel, this speed is almost nothing. For reference, the distance from the Sun to the nearest star is more than 41 trillion kilometers. That is, if the spacecraft were traveling at this speed, it would take more than 120,000 years to reach the nearest star. That’s why NASA is trying to create new technologies that will make space travel faster. Today, they are working on two revolutionary technologies here, which should increase the speed of spaceships dozens of times.
NASA is currently working on two concepts. The first is an ion engine, and the second is an antimatter engine. Classical ion engines do not have much thrust, but there is currently a chance to make an ion engine that can produce 1 megawatt of thrust.
NASA is using a high-energy laser to put a dramatically improved lithium-ion engine into production. Intensive studies will continue for 4 months. At the same time, the Pentagon is also conducting tests, whose engineers are trying to make an ion engine that will be able to produce several hundred megawatts of power.
Thus, the future of spaceflight is multifaceted. NASA hopes that by the year 250 they will be able to build an engine that will develop 1.6 million kilometers per hour.
But, even with the mentioned engine, it will take at least 3000 years for the spacecraft to reach the nearest star from the solar system.
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