Put your phasers on stun (Star Trek pun), a new rocket designed jointly by NASA, Ad Astra, and Nautel, may potentially slash the time it takes on a trip from Earth to Mars to as little as a short 39 days! And yep, it uses ion propulsion–just like Star Trek taught us.
The new rocket uses Ion propulsion, via the new plasma-based VASIMR (Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket) engine, and is now close to the point where it could be tested on a flight to the moon. The rocket works by turning electrical power into thrust in order to harness solar energy.
The 39 day time compares to six months using current rocket technology. A round-trip to Mars would take far longer than six months as Mars and Earth only pass close to each other every two years, engineers assume a crew would go one way, wait a year, and then fly back the next time the planets passed each other by.
The ion drive would enable astronauts to shoot there and back during a single close approach.
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