A nuclear-powered super rocket using Star Trek technology could cut the journey time to Mars to just two months.
NASA chiefs predict the Pulsed Plasma Rocket – aka PPR – will trigger a “whole new era in space exploration”.
It uses a fission-based nuclear power system which obtains energy from the controlled splitting of atoms to generate thrust. The USS Enterprise in the iconic 70s sci-fi series Star Trek used a similar propulsion system to travel at “impulse” speed – a quarter of the speed of light or 167,000,000 mph.
READ MORE: Star Trek-style ‘warp bubble’ will allow astronauts to travel between planets
Click for more of the latest news from across the world from the Daily Star.
Space boffins say the new real-life rocket – under development by US firm Howe Industries – is far more efficient than any other method of deep space propulsion.
(Image: Getty Images)
Using current tech, it would take at least nine months to travel 140 million miles to Mars while a round trip would take about two years as astronauts would have to wait three months to ensure Mars and the Earth were in suitable locations to make the trip home.
But NASA claims the new rocket could cut a round trip to under six months, similar to the average stay on the International Space Station.
It will also be capable of carrying heavy payloads, allowing boffins to install extra shields to protect the crew from exposure to galactic cosmic rays – harmful high-energy particles – which they would experience on the journey.
Phase I of the rocket’s development has been completed, including the powering of the engines. The next phase will involve optimising engine design, performing proof-of-concept experiments and designing a spacecraft for crewed flights to Mars.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
NASA say the rocket brings them closer to their ambition of establishing a permanent human base on the Red Planet.
Until now only robot rovers have visited on unmanned craft.
A NASA spokesman said: “The PPR enables a whole new era in space exploration. The system’s high efficiency allows for manned missions to Mars to be completed within a mere two months.”
The journey could be completed in less than 20 seconds if humans work out how to design a rocket capable of reaching the USS Enterprise’s famous `warp’ speed.
The field generated by the engines distorted – or ‘warped’ – space and time, was dreamed up by the TV show’s makers and remains beyond any real science.