Accelerate Mars Travel Time by Tripling the Speed
In a groundbreaking scientific proposal, scientist Jack Kingdon from the University of California, Santa Barbara suggests using SpaceX's Starship to slash the journey time to Mars to just 90-104 days. This speedy transformation will make Mars missions roughly three times as swift as current missions, turning heads in the scientific community.
Kingdon's brainchild involves tapping a nifty mathematical algorithm to crunch numbers and pinpoint the ideal trajectories for the Starship to swoop over to the Red Planet at mind-blowing speeds.
Amongst the thrilling possibilities, the first scenario has our Hero Spacecraft setting off on April 30, 2033, for a whirlwind, 90-day escape, and returning to terra firma on July 2, 2035. Another ambitious plan involves sending the Starship soaring into the cosmos on July 15, 2035, for a 104-day adventure, touching down back home on December 5, 2037. Both scenarios leapfrog over Earth-Mars alignments to save precious fuel resources.
Curious about the secret sauce? Here's the lowdown: Starship can practically jet off to Mars in a mere three months, regardless of the launch date, thanks to the algorithms' magic. The cherry on top — no nuclear reactors are needed for powering this bad boy, proving to be a hurdle due to their technical and political complexities.
A savvy solution to a common conundrum for SpaceX, this plan nimbly addresses the issue of insufficient mass for the return flight. Kingdon proposes refueling Starship in low Earth orbit (LEO) using spiffy tankers, thus allowing the Starship to conserve its fuel for the epic journey back home. He also suggests using cargo ships to ship the stuff needed to manufacture fuel from Mars' carbon dioxide and water ice. Though the technology is still under wraps, the folks at SpaceX are hopeful that they'll soon be ready for prime time.
Although optimism abounds, Kingdon issues a friendly reminder that success hinges on tangling with several challenges, including polishing SpaceX's Starship after test flights, developing state-of-the-art life support and orbital refueling systems, and piecing together infrastructure for fuel production on Mars.
Forgot about the stinky Martian core? Previous research has unearthed that Mars' secret sauce might be the abundant stench of sulfur compounds, reminiscent of rotten eggs. Now that's one strange pong on the inviting Martian landscape!
The mathematics-driven algorithm utilized by Jack Kingdon, a scientist from the University of California, Santa Barbara, curates optimal trajectories for SpaceX's Starship to reach Mars in record-breaking times. Kingdon's proposal suggests using Space-and-Astronomy technology to power the Starship in a fuel-efficient manner, potentially reducing the travel time to Mars from the current span to a mere 3 months, with the aid of resources from space and Mars itself.
