Get to know rocket that promises to reduce time to Mars in half

Travel to other planets in the solar system are still a dream . The trip to the moon, which happened only once in 1969, is still a major challenge for scientists and astronauts who want to repeat it.

Around the world, however, government and private initiatives seek solutions to optimize the time and cost of these trips, especially for Mars planet that most generates economic curiosity in many countries.

Example of these endeavors is the rocket Sunbird of the British Pulsar Fusion startup, which promises to halve the time of a trip from Earth to Mars in the coming years. The expectation, according to the company’s researchers, is to make the first trip already in 2027.

“We are facing a crisis both energetic and climate, but there is hope,” explains the company’s CEO Richard Dinon, in the project’s promotional video. “If we can solve a problem, we may be able to solve both of them by replicating the nuclear fusion process that occurs in the sun.”

How does the Sunbird rocket work?

Called Sunbird, in reference to the sun, the British rocket model uses a propulsion system based on nuclear fusion Duel Direct Fusion Drive (DDFD), which promises to make interplanetary trips faster and more efficient.

Sunbird’s great differential, according to its creators, is on its compacted nuclear melting engine, capable of providing both impulse and electrical energy for spacecraft . See the rocket:


According to Pulsar Fusion simulations, this technology can make it possible to send 1,000 kg spacecraft to Pluto, for example, in just four years, a significantly shorter time than necessary for current missions.


Reducing the travel time to Mars

At the moment, Conventional missions take about seven months to reach Mars . With Sunbird, this Time can be reduced to approximately 150 days . This occurs, in the view of Pulsar researchers, because DDFD technology allows continuous and high efficiency impulse, minimizing the need for large amounts of chemical propellant.

In practice, the model works in an integrated way: A spacecraft launched from Earth to the low orbit (leo) is coupled to a Sunbird already positioned in space . From that point, The rocket assumes propulsion, using nuclear fusion energy to accelerate the spacecraft and drastically reduce fuel expenditure.

Watch the simulation:

Development schedule

The project Sunbird is currently in the manufacturing phase of the initial prototype. The first static tests are scheduled for 2025, with a Demonstration in orbit scheduled for 2027 .

If the results are positive, the Pulsar team expects this technology to inaugurate a new era in space exploration making interplanetary missions more accessible and frequent. Some challenges, however, are in the radar of scientists.

“The nuclear fusion for power generation is advancing greatly, but it is still very difficult to make it possible in the atmosphere,” explains Richard Dinan, Chairman of the company. “Therefore, the work we do in the pulse involves giant vacuum chambers, which simulate the environment in which the rocket will operate, and walls with a meter thick, to avoid radiation of neutrons from leaving the simulator.”

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This content was originally published in Meet Foguet that promises to reduce the time to Mars in half on the CNN Brazil website.

Source: CNN Brasil

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