Photonic propulsion technology could lead to shorter trip times to other planets.
NASA is planning an exploratory trip to Mars that, using the current mode of travel, would take about six months to reach the planet. But researchers are now discussing a new type of propulsion system that would allow a small craft to reach Mars in as little as three days, according to Fox News.
Philip Lubin, of the University of California Santa Barbara said, “There are recent advances which take this from science fiction to science reality.” Lubin was speaking about his NASA Innovative Advanced Concept (NIAC) for energy propulsion used in interstellar exploration.
The concept is known as photonic propulsion and works using lasers to propel a giant sail, which combined with using the rays from the Sun, would be boosted by lasers beamed from the Earth. Lubin continued, “There is no known reason why we can’t do this. There is a road map which you can look at in our paper to relativistic flight. The system is completely scalable modularly, built to any size you want from a tiny one to a gigantic one.”
In a paper written about the new technology, Lubin says we have to re-think our strategy for spaceflight or give up on our dreams of one day reaching the stars. He adds we dream of visiting other planets and stars in a way romanticized in books and movies, but it is not currently within our power to achieve this goal. Lubin and the research team are working on a method to prove the system can work through a proof of concept grant from NASA, and he says he is already fantasizing about sending wafer-thin probes, equipped with optical communications, sensors, and systems to the far ends of the solar system.
Passenger travel would not be quite as quick as the probes, however. According to Lubin, a 100-kilogram robotic craft could reach Mars in just a few days, but if you planned to send a shuttle-like craft, it would likely take about a month. Still, that is much quicker than the current model, and the new technology would open up many new areas of exploration with longer spaceflight missions.