I say this again. Plasma. Rockets.
Franklin Chang-Diaz, a former astronaut and a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), says reaching the Red Planet could be dramatically quicker using his high-tech VASIMR rocket, now on track for lift-off after decades of development.Magnetoplasma Rockets! That's even better than plain old plasma rockets!
The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket -- to give its full name -- is quick becoming a centerpiece of NASA's future strategy as it looks to private firms to help meet the astronomical costs of space exploration.
NASA, still reeling from a political decision to cancel its Constellation program that would have returned a human to the moon by the end of the decade, has called on firms to provide new technology to power rovers or even future manned missions.
Hopes are now pinned on firms like Chang-Diaz's Texas-based Ad Astra Rocket Company.
Seriously, why aren't we throwing bricks of cash at this guy?
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3 comments:
Silly Zandar! You can't throw bricks of cash unless it benefits a congressional district.
Because bricks of cash are for people like Eric Prince who do the noble work of killing brown people for our National Penis!
Anything viable technology with "plasma" and "rocket" in it should become a national priority.
I'm just sayin'.
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