VIDEO How we will get to Mars in two months: NASA is working on a rocket powered by plasma and nuclear fission

The future of space travel depends on our ability to reach distant destinations as quickly and efficiently as possible. To that end, NASA is collaborating with a tech company on a new propulsion system that could allow humans to reach Mars in a relatively quick two months, instead of the nine it currently takes to reach the Red Planet .

NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program recently selected six promising projects for funding and further development, allowing them to advance to stage two. The “science fiction-like concepts,” as described by John Nelson, executive director of NASA’s NIAC program, include a lunar rail system and fluid-based telescopes, as well as a plasma rocket.

The potentially revolutionary propulsion system is being developed by Arizona-based Howe Industries. To achieve high speeds in a shorter time, the plasma rocket uses nuclear fission, the release of energy by splitting atoms, to generate plasma packets for propulsion.

This would basically produce a controlled jet of plasma to help propel the rocket through space. Using this propulsion system, the rocket could generate up to 10.2 tons of kilogram-force (100,000 Newtons), while also offering higher fuel efficiency.

Second attempt

It’s not an entirely new concept. NASA began developing its own version in 2018 under the name Pulsed Fission-Fusion (PuFF). PuFF relied on a device commonly used to compress laboratory plasma to high pressures for very short periods of time, called the z-Pinch, to produce propulsion. However, the pulsed plasma rocket is smaller, simpler and more affordable, according to NASA.

The space agency claims that the high efficiency of the propulsion system could allow manned missions to Mars to be completed within two months. Currently, with the propulsion systems in common use, a trip to Mars takes around nine months. The less time people spend traveling through space, the better. Shorter periods of exposure to space radiation and microgravity could help reduce the effects on the human body.

The plasma rocket would also be capable of carrying much heavier spacecraft, which could then be fitted with cosmic radiation shields to protect the crew on board.

The new propulsion system has the potential to revolutionize manned space travel, helping people get to Mars without the effort of the journey itself.