British and American specialists intend to create rockets equipped with a thermonuclear engine for flights to Mars. Artificial intelligence will help them.

What is known

One of the Harvard professors wrote in his article that in the future, technological progress will reach a level where humanity will be 30 seconds from Mars. This statement became the name of a famous American rock band. Meanwhile, British and American companies are working to bring humanity within 30 days of the Red Planet. By the way, even if the speed of light is reached, it will take at least 3 minutes to overcome the minimum distance between the Earth and Mars.

The British company Pulsar Fusion, together with the American Princeton Satellite Systems, intends to create a rocket for flights to Mars. In this they will be helped by artificial intelligence, which will study the physics of plasma in the power plant and optimize the design.

Pulsar Fusion already has developments in its portfolio, but as part of the new project, it will improve American technologies. The Princeton field-reversed configuration 2 (PFRC-2) facility will be used for plasma physics analysis. Within two years, Princeton Satellite Systems plans to produce versions of the PFRC-3 and PRFC-4.

The thermonuclear engine will allow a spacecraft weighing 10 tons to accelerate to 223.5 km / s. At this speed, the spacecraft can reach Mars in three days during the closest approach of the Red Planet to the Earth. But in this case we are talking about the maximum speed, which cannot be maintained throughout the flight. In addition, do not forget about acceleration and deceleration.

Starting the power plant will require some helium-3 and deuterium. During flight, the fusion engine will be able to generate electricity, providing power to the onboard systems of the spacecraft. The fuel will be gas and dust from space.

Source: WNN