British and American experts intend to create rockets equipped with a thermonuclear engine for
What is known
One of the Harvard professors in his articlewrote that in the future, technological progress will reach a level where humanity will be 30 seconds from Mars. This statement became the name of a famous American rock band. Meanwhile, British and American companies are working to bring humanity within 30 days of the Red Planet. By the way, even if the speed of light is reached, it will take at least 3 minutes to overcome the minimum distance between the Earth and Mars.
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British company Pulsar Fusion together withAmerican Princeton Satellite Systems intends to create a rocket for flights to Mars. In this they will be helped by artificial intelligence, which will study the physics of plasma in the power plant and optimize the design.
The Pulsar Fusion portfolio already has developments, butas part of the new project, it will improve American technology. The Princeton field-reversed configuration 2 (PFRC-2) facility will be used for plasma physics analysis. Within two years, Princeton Satellite Systems plans to produce versions of the PFRC-3 and PRFC-4.
The thermonuclear engine will allow spacea ship weighing 10 tons to accelerate to 223.5 km / s. At this speed, the spacecraft can reach Mars in three days during the closest approach of the Red Planet to the Earth. But in this case we are talking about the maximum speed, which cannot be maintained throughout the flight. In addition, do not forget about acceleration and deceleration.
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Starting the power plant will take a littlehelium-3 and deuterium. During flight, the fusion engine will be able to generate electricity, providing power to the onboard systems of the spacecraft. The fuel will be gas and dust from space.