When NASA one day sends humans to Mars, the journey could take six to nine months each way. But there's a highly-experimental device being developed that could help get us there in less than half that time — if it really works.
A small lab at NASA is creating a motor to propel ships through space much faster than today's conventional rockets can. Decades from now, a trip to Mars might take mere weeks, without burning any fuel. The only problem? The motor seems to violate the laws of physics.
To power a spacecraft, a propellant is ejected out of the rocket's end, because you can't accelerate forward without pushing back against something. But NASA's alternative gadget, called an EM drive, would generate thrust without the need to belch exhaust. And dropping the weight from fuel could make ships much lighter and space travel more efficient.
"You don't have to lug along some vast amount of stuff that you expel out of the tailpipe…all you have to do is put in energy," says Jim Woodward, emeritus professor of history and adjunct professor of physics at California State University, Fullerton. "You can get around space-time quickly for a lot less money."
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