Reach Mars in three days

Philip Lubin, NASA scientist researchers are now working on a new laser technology that can send humans to Mars in three days, compared to the technology which is available now which can take up to five months.

The idea is to use lasers to propel spacecraft with giant sails to Mars, with the new “photonic propulsion” system which relies on the momentum of photons – particles of light- to move forward. Instead of Proton from Sun’s rays, the latest design will involve a push by giant Earth-based lasers to the spacecraft, according to www.sciencealert.com.

The technology is readily available and can be easily scaled up.  This will make the science fiction to science reality. Despite not having any mass, particles of light have both energy and momentum. When they reflect off an object, that momentum is transferred into a little push. With a large, reflective sail, it is possible to generate enough momentum to gradually accelerate a spacecraft. Lubin’s calculations predict that photonic propulsion could get a 100-kg robotic spacecraft to Mars in just three days. Electromagnetic acceleration is only limited to the energy of chemical processes. NASA is currently building the Space Launch System (SLS), the world’s most powerful rocket that will take humans to Mars, which has already done a million seconds of ground test and flight operations time. When completed astronauts can venture their journey to explore destinations far into the Solar system. The SLS will carry 13 small satellites along with an unscrewed Orion spacecraft during its first flight in 2018. US President Barak Obama has continued to support the US space agency with £13.5bn ( $19billion) budget for 2017.