Would you buy a pair of mars boots if they were made by a shoe company?
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So this week I’m listening to aerospace podcast called This Week in Space: Going Interstellar. Special guest Jeff Greason,was being interviewed about using different types of propulsion to sojourn through space beyond our galaxy.
Part of what Jeff talked about was using a type of wind found in space to propel to the outskirts of galaxies and use gravity to slingshot through. He mentioned how Nuclear Propulsion could be used to pick up speed that might be required to benefit from the wind method.
Space Thrust company Momentus is firing an experimental thrust that uses radio waves to convert water into plasma to generate thrust, according to SpaceNews [1]. Below is a basic rocket engine.
It’s interesting to compare the types of propulsion covered in this article. One is more theoretical and not yet physically built. There is a project DRACO that is exploring nuclear propulsion but its more experimental due to its technology readiness. And even the electro thermal thruster discussed isn’t generating profit, according to a newsletter by SpaceProbe [2].
The image of the traditional thruster is what we know works, in type, on SpaceX rockets. The cost of their launches is so much lower.
This all leads me to wonder how our species can push the limits of space exploration. A real need has to be met. It’s not that folks solving advanced propulsion aren’t meeting needs of humanity. But one wonders if other more immediate needs…
