sciencetech-blog

comments

Nasa chiefs have said that sending a manned mission to Mars is 'necessary if the human race is to survive'.  

But the huge amounts of chemical rocket fuel needed to complete such a mission would require deep pockets – the launch costs alone would be more than $12 billion (£7 billion).

Added to this is the time it takes. The space agency estimates that a round-trip human expedition to Mars would take more than four years using current technology.  

A concept image of a spacecraft powered by a fusion-driven rocket. The crew would be in the forward-most chamber. Solar panels on the sides would collect energy to initiate the process that creates fusion

Rocket-powered fusion, however, could one day allow 30- and 90-day expeditions to Mars by making the trip more practical and less costly, experts claim.

Scientists envision using a nuclear reactor to heat hydrogen to very high temperatures, which will then expand through a spacecraft's nozzle to generate thrust.  

Recent advances in manipulating nuclear fusion could means that astronauts are now a step closer to our nearest planetary neighbour.  

'Using existing rocket fuels, it's nearly impossible for humans to explore much beyond Earth' said lead researcher John Slough.  

'We are hoping to give us a much more powerful source of energy in space that could eventually lead to making interplanetary travel commonplace.'  

The fusion driven rocket test chamber at the University of Washington Plasma Dynamics Lab in Redmond. The green vacuum chamber is surrounded by two large, high-strength aluminum magnets. These magnets are powered by energy-storage capacitors. These store energy electrostatically in an electric field

Nasa is developing the capabilities needed to capture an asteroid by 2015 and send humans to Mars by 2030

Only a small amount of fusion is needed to power a rocket – a small grain of sand of this material has the same energy content as 1 gallon of rocket fuel.  

The research team at Washington University developed a type of plasma that is encased in its own magnetic field.  

Nuclear fusion occurs when this plasma is compressed to high pressure with a magnetic field. The team successfully tested this technique in the lab.  

'I think everybody was pleased to see confirmation of the principal mechanism that we're using to compress the plasma,' said Professor Slough. 

Speaking at the Humans to Mars summit in Washington, head of the U.S. space programme Charles Bolden, said: 'If this species is to survive indefinitely we need to become a multi-planet species'

'We hope we can interest the world with the fact that fusion isn't always 40 years away and doesn't always cost $2 billion.'  

Nuclear fusion may draw concern because of its application in nuclear bombs, but its use in this scenario is very different, Professor Slough said.  

The fusion energy for powering a rocket would be reduced by a factor of 1 billion from a hydrogen bomb, too little to create a significant explosion.  

Nasa has already successfully tested other power conversion and radiator systems for a nuclear power system it hopes to deploy on the Moon by 2020.  

Meanwhile, Russia is working on a nuclear rocket that would generate electricity for a plasma thruster.