VASIMR Ion Engine Could Cut Mars Trip To 39 Days

An anonymous reader writes "It would take about 39 days to reach Mars, compared to six months by conventional rocket power. 'This engine is in fact going to be tested on the International Space Station, launched about 2013,' astronaut Chris Hadfield said. The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR®) system encompasses three linked magnetic cells. The 'Plasma Source' cell involves the main injection of neutral gas (typically hydrogen, or other light gases) to be turned into plasma and the ionization subsystem. The 'RF Booster' cell acts as an amplifier to further energize the plasma to the desired temperature using electromagnetic waves. The 'Magnetic Nozzle' cell converts the energy of the plasma into directed motion and ultimately useful thrust."

Billions and billions...

[GenP]

A few hundred Newtons here, a few hundred Newtons there, and pretty soon you're talking about some real delta-v!

Sound

[whisper_jeff]

But does this process create feedback over communications systems to create cool sound effects as the ship whooshes by?

Sorry. Star Wars geek moment...

Re:Tag as SLASHVERTISEMENT

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, I was totally going to go for one of those conventional rockets for my trip to Mars, but now I'm seriously considering a VASIMR Ion Engine.

Please, please, PLEASE...

[Kirin Fenrir]

Let the common name be "impulse engines".

CANADA ROCKS!!!! Woooh

[gapagos]

A new NASA rocket engine, designed partly in Canada, raises the revolutionary possibility that a manned trip to Mars could take less than three months instead of two years.
(...)
A whole bunch of countries (were involved), but Canada has one of the main pieces of hardware.

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!
C'mon you Americans, it's not like you don't defend your national pride in space either! :-)

Re:I'm dizzy.

[click2005]

You could have travelled those 800 miles in 4 hours with a VASMIR Ion Drive.

made in Webster, TX

[boristdog]

Hooray! Now maybe Webster, TX will be know for something other than being a speed trap between NASA and I-45.

Re:Tag as SLASHVERTISEMENT

[wisty]

And in 12 months time, Richard Branson will probably have one.

Re:I'm dizzy.

[DoofusOfDeath]

In three paragraphs we go from 89 days to 39 days.

It's called acceleration. Duh...

Re:CANADA ROCKS!!!! Woooh

[thrillseeker]

Oh good point ... so is it 39 days or, ahem, 39 Canadian days ...

Old news

[davidwr]

If I'd left when I first heard this [universetoday.com], I'd be about 1/3 way there, time-wise.

Re:Tag as SLASHVERTISEMENT

[Anonymous Coward]

Since when do more powerful engines imply safer?

Bathroom stops

[NoYob]

Trip times may vary as folks stop for bathrooms, coffee, and whatnot along the way. So that's where they're getting the 50 day difference.

Re:Tag as SLASHVERTISEMENT

[Anonymous Coward]

For 10 years now, I'm commuting to work with my old Ford Pinto.
Until I read the ad in the news paper and decided it was time for a change.
Now I'm owning on of the modern cars with a VASIMR Ion Engine and have cut my commuting time down by 105 percent. And with the money saved I'm buying a new house, yacht, motorbike and wife.
And when my boss saw my new VASIMR ion engine has gave me a raise and promoted me !

Thanks VASIMR ion engine cooperation, your incredible product saved the day and changed my life for the better !

Re:CANADA ROCKS!!!! Woooh

[Anonymous Coward]

Bad premise. Since the Bush administration, most of us don't have any national pride.

True, but then Canada isn't a real country either! (ducks!)

Re:I'm dizzy.

[gEvil (beta)]

He's clearly taking the Interplanetary Date Line into account in his calculations.

Re:CANADA ROCKS!!!! Woooh

[Anonymous Coward]

About as many as don't have heath care coverage.

4 out of 5 astronauts surveyed

[bl8n8r]

preferred 39 days of abstinence to 6 months!

Re:CANADA ROCKS!!!! Woooh

[Bob-taro]

Oh good point ... so is it 39 days or, ahem, 39 Canadian days ...

That's 39 Metric days. To convert to American days, you double it and add 30.

Re:I'm dizzy.

[Aceticon]

I think they mean 39 work-days, 89 days in total.

Obviously the engine will not work on weekends, so that's 2 days out of 7, roughly 24 in total.

Then there are religious holidays for the astronauts, not to mention national holidays for each nationality represented in the team. I reckon that's about 3 days a month, or roughly 9 days in total.

Then there's mandatory vacation time, about 25 days a year or roughly 8 days for the trip.

Assuming everybody is working really hard, coffee, cigarette and bathroom breaks will probably only add up to 3 days in total.

Of the remaining 45 days, one is preparation before the trip, one to really get going and one is basically wasted on the whole "arrival, get the luggage out and unpack it". Same thing on the Mars side. That's another 6 days.

This is the reason for the difference.

Re:Sound

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

My thoughts on why one hears other spaceships around in sci-fi movies is that their propulsion pushes directly off of space time which creates waves which one can hear when they hit the side of the spaceship.

Ah. That explains the John Williams score we hear in space, too.

Re:Tag as SLASHVERTISEMENT

[lordfoul]

Pass..I hear it won't run Hulu in full Screen..

Re:Tag as SLASHVERTISEMENT

[operagost]

Why buy a new car, when you can just make your "pinto" bigger with C1AL15!

Re:Sound

[tsm_sf]

If they don't have an audio representation for silent space battles, someone always ends up piping 'Blue Danube Waltz' over the ship's PA.

no big loss

[juan2074]

If we launch from Cape Canaveral, we only risk contaminating Central Florida.

Re:4 out of 5 astronauts surveyed

[Anonymous Coward]

39 days is one way... your post implies a gigantic interplanetary orgy once they arrive on mars
maybe they should aim for phobos

Re:You were up-modded by people who don't read

[andrikos]

Spend more time reading, and less time posting, please.

You must be new here, right?

Oy...

[xx01dk]

VASIMR.





...what.

Re:CANADA ROCKS!!!! Woooh

[jafac]

I dunno.

If Freud were alive today, he'd have a field-day comparing launch vehicles (size, reliability, national ego, etc.) to penises. I reckon especially with the new flesh-colored Ares upper-stage.

I know I do.

Canadian Space Agency

[stoob0]

Do all Canadian astronauts launch with mittens close at hand? Does the other pocket visible in the picture contain pucks?

Re:No quite yet.

[Nefarious Wheel]

yes but if we use all the comets, where will we get the ice without bugs in it to cool the oceans to combat global warming?

I think we Oort to have enough.

Re:Billions and billions...

[ELProphet]

Let's run the math:

(Using classical mechanics, Google Calculator, and some rounding)
40 days, 60 million km to mars at closest approach.
Spend half the time accelerating, half the time decelerating.

For acceleration:
x = x0 + v0t + (at^2)/2
2 * 30 million km / (20 days) ^ 2 = 2e-2m/s^2

Let's use a Space Shuttle, 2,029,203 kg
The force of the engine is
F = ma = ((2 029 203 kg) * 2 * (30 million km)) / ((20 days)^2) = 40 774.5587 newtons
Work along a straight line is Force time distance
W = Fd = (40 774.5587 newtons) * 30 million kilometers = 1.22323676 × 10^15 joules
Power is work over time
P = W/t = 1.22323676 × ((10^15) joules)) / (20 days) = 0.707891644 gigawatts
Of course, we need to do this twice:
Ptotal = 2P = 2 * 0.707891644 gigawatts = 1.41578329 gigawatts

Which is surprisingly close to the power needed to propel a DeLorean through time...

Note that this is only the power needed to get the ship to Mars and then stop it; I have no idea the efficiency of their engine, life support, etc, but hey, the math works close enough for me.

I'm a little weak on my power generation math- anyone who knows something about solar panels and PV arrays want to take a shot at the power requirements?