Mission To Mars - Human Progress & Scientific Developments

[xXTheOneRavenXx]

I was just reading the latest news regarding the isolation experiments conducted in Moscow. It reminded me of an article I read some time ago about the LPT (Laser Photon Thruster). It states in the article found at
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/090714-mock-mars-mission-ends.html that the next experiment that will be conducted by the European & Russian Space Agencies is supposed to last upwards to 520 days in isolation. Instead of spending all this money to conduct such a grueling undertaking, why not spend the time and money on research to upscale the LPT. This new thruster built by Young Bae using off-the-shelf components is predicted to be able to reduce a trip to Mars to 1 week. Imagine that! It would mean a trip across our solar system could be dome within the same time scale they used for the 105 day experiment. Seems like a fantasy? Below I have added a link to the topic discussing this invention and thought that and any other advancements towards the manned Mars mission would make a great topic for SDC. As the founder of The Bae Institute, his work has already been accepted and published in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets. The article is a great read. Enjoy

http://www.photonics.com/Content/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=30860

 

[yevaud]

Huh. That's damned near one G, continuous thrust - assuming a turnaround at midpoint, plus acceleration/deceleration at the end points.

 

[xXTheOneRavenXx]

There are several other advancements Dr. Bae is working on. Remember the tethered telescope concept?
http://www.aerowebspace.com/AIAA/archives/bae.pdf

I've been reading over his site, and if NASA continues their pursue with his technology, I think we're going to see a lot of advancements with space travel in the near future.
http://www.baeinstitute.com/technologies.html