What ever happened to President Bush’s bold Moon station/Mars exploration plan? Think we’ll be hearing about it in the State of the Union? Interesting.
Anyway whenever we have a serious–rather than poll-driven–proposal to head to Mars this technology might be handy:
Gregory Benford of the University of California, Irvine, and his brother James, who runs aerospace research firm Microwave Sciences in Lafayette, California, envisage beaming microwave energy up from Earth to boil off volatile molecules from a specially formulated paint applied to the sail. The recoil of the molecules as they streamed off the sail would give it a significant kick that would help the craft on its way. “It’s a different way of thinking about propulsion,” Gregory Benford says. “We leave the engine on the ground.”
. . .
In a forthcoming issue of the journal Acta Astronautica, the Benfords explain how a sail covered with a paint designed to emit gas when it is heated might propel a spacecraft to Mars in just a month. A rocket would take the craft to low-Earth orbit, 300 kilometres up. After the craft unfurls a solar sail 100 metres across, a transmitter on Earth would fire microwaves at it to heat it up. The Benfords calculate a one-hour burst of microwaves could accelerate the craft to 60 kilometres per second, faster than any interplanetary spacecraft to date.
I don’t know enough about this to comment on its feasibility. But if we’re ever going to venture to Mars, we clearly need a faster method of travel. Perhaps this concept will be it.
When I read this, I thought, “Problem 1 solved: getting there. That leaves Problem 2 and 3: stopping, and getting back.” So now I’ll read it, sounds interesting.
I imagine you can use some kind of rocket thrusters to stop/maneuver. Getting back? That might be a problem.