Planetary Spacecraft - Under Construction
Work is progressing on an Antiproton-Catalyzed Micro-Fusion/Fusion Propulsion, an inertial confinement fusion propulsion system, which is capable of making a 60-day round-trip to Mars with a 100-Metric ton payload. Think of the fun your kids and grandkids are going to have going to Mars.
NASA's antimatter technology
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Antimatter spacecraft like this one could some day shorten a trip to Mars in one month. A matter-antimatter engine will take us far beyond our solar system and let us reach nearby stars in a fraction of the time it would take a spacecraft propelled by a liquid-hydrogen engine, like the one used in the space shuttle. It's like the difference between driving an Indy race car and a 1971 Ford Pinto. In the Pinto, you'll eventually get to the finish line, but it will take 10 times longer than in the Indy car. |
Engineering, stand by for warp drive. With that command, the "Star Trek" crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise prepared to hurl the spaceship through the cosmos at superluminal speeds. Warp drive is another one of those science fiction technologies, like teleportation and time travel, that have some scientific basis. It just hasn't been achieved yet. However, scientists are working on developing an interstellar spacecraft engine that is similar to the matter-antimatter engine of the Enterprise.