> We can execute missions to Mars, but it takes several months for a vehicle to reach the Red Planet. Even then, those missions have to be launched during the most optimal launch windows, which only occur every 2 years. But the minds at NASA never stop thinking about this problem, and now Dr. Philip Lubin, Physics Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, may have come up with something: photonic propulsion, which he thinks could reduce the travel time from Earth to Mars to just 3 days, for a 100 kg craft.
> The system is called DEEP IN, or Directed Propulsion for Interstellar Exploration. The general idea is that we have achieved relativistic speeds in the laboratory, but haven't taken that technology—which is electromagnetic in nature, rather than chemical—and used it outside of the laboratory. In short, we can propel individual particles to near light speed inside particle accelerators, but haven't expanded that technology to the macro level.
> Directed Energy Propulsion differs from rocket technology in a fundamental way: the propulsion system stays at home, and the craft doesn't carry any fuel or propellant. Instead, the craft would carry a system of reflectors, which would be struck with an aimed stream of photons, propelling the craft forward. And the whole system is modular and scalable.
http://phys.org/news/2016-02-nasa-mars-days.html
>>25592
>DEEP IN
Like I was with your mom last night?
tl:dr
>>25597
They'll be able to launch manned spacecraft to Mars in only 3 days - Neptune in 2 months - closest star Alpha Centauri in a decade.
>>25603
but if we launch manned spacecraft to Mars now then it would get there faster than a decade and three days
>>25605
Yeah, not now. We suck currently.
>>25592
Em Driver technology will be here way before this shit gets developed and it will most likely be WAY more energy efficient too.
>>25592
That's pretty cool.
How are they planning on getting back?
>>25612
Doing the same thing in the opposite direction?
>>25616
Are you fucking retarded ? There wouldnt be enough space for food, fuel, air, and anything useful.
If some people are sent to mars, they,ll know that they will die.
>>25622
Half the problem of Mars is getting there. If the article is true then maybe they'll have Mars-astronauts by 2032...
>>25592
Swell. And decelerating? Stick to the science, fellas. Leave the engineering to engineers.
>>25630
We should signal the Space Aliens so they can deaccelerate our high-tech space vehicles for us!
>>25593
>> Like I was with your mom last night?
no
you're probably alone and fap to the idea of fucking your 50 year old math teacher
fag
>>25640
That's kinda hot.
>>25630
Launch another system to Mars ?
Use retrograde rockets ?
What about solar sails ?
Don't just complain come up with solutions .
>>25622
>Are you fucking retarded ?
It's just Downs, you insensitive fuck
>>25680
Finally - a helpful post!
>>25592
This concept was the basic enabler of interstellar exploration in the novel "Flight of the Dragonfly"
But what the article misses is beam divergence. Because we can't make a perfect laser, the beam diverges more and more as you get farther away, and you harness less and less of the actual output energy.
And then there is the political problem. A huge laser in orbit to push a probe only needs to be turned around to become a James Bond villain super-weapon.
>>25759
Lasers are safer than nukes...
>>25612
http://www.space.com/27517-buzz-aldrin-one-way-mars-trips.html
"It [will] cost the world — and the U.S. — billions and billions of dollars to put these people there, and you're going to bring them back?" Aldrin said. "What are you going to do when you bring them back here that can possibly compare [to] the value that they would be if they stayed there and Mars wasn't empty? And then, they helped to work with the next group and it builds up a cadre of people. When we've got 100 — or whatever it is — then we start bringing people back."
>>25611
What are you talking about?
>>25811
Em drive.
Google it.
What if instead of pushing the rocket forwards it pushes Earth backwards?
>>25829
It will do exactly that, by Newton's third law. But Earth is so massive compared to the craft that the distance Earth moves is almost non-existent.
>>25603
>we may send out dozens of small probes and exploratory craft via laser propulsion all across our solar system and the neighboring stars
Holy shit fucking shit
A decade to alpha centauri, thats insane, we might send a probe there and then just wait another decade for it to send back more information about the system than we might ever hope to get from JWST or Hubble.
To think, humanity might send out craft to another fucking solar system in just a decade after launch, thats fucking amazing, we can send out a craft over to Voyager even, and have it pass it within a few years!
I love the idea of us just seneing robot craft and probes to every single celestial body and star within reach
Hnnnngggggg
>>26054
Yeah, ETs are all jealous we'll be kings of the Local Group, after all!
>>25603
And the only people who will be able to afford it are agencies with billions of dollars set aside for investment purposes. This is pop-science at best; retards confusing math with reality at worst.
>>25680
>come up with solutions
Yes, anon; people on an anonymous ephemeral image board are going to come up with solutions the most funded and best minds in the industry are working on, all in a matter of days at most and formulate it into less than 2000 characters.
Fuck off kid.
>>26258
We're good at adapting, though.
>>25630
Not an engineer or anything but
What if you peak the top momentum to where there's enough room to decelerate? Hell you might spend more time decelerating but it won't be as bad as 3 months right?
>by using a laser, we-
oh its nothing
it doesnt work
>>25826
Didn't it flop?
I think it was proven to be a piece of crap.
>>26590
Last I heard, NASA said that their initial tests exceeded their expectations and they're starting to get super-excited about it. Nothing official yet though I think. We still don't fully understand the physics of how Em Drives work so it's just a matter of more experimentation until we figure it out. I think it may the be key to free energy, or at least extremely cheap energy.
