What is required toget us to other planets? A lot of things but mainly energy. Our current rockets simply can't produce enough energy to get us that far.
American aerospace engineer, author, and advocate for human exploration of Mars Robert Zubrin has one idea for getting us to space and it's a rather interesting one. It's called Nuclear Salt Water Rocket (NSWR) and it replaces traditional chemical propellant with salts of plutonium or 20 percent enriched uranium.
The end result would be an engine that is both highly efficient and delivers great amounts of thrust, according to Medium. If Zubrin's plans could work, it would allow the NSWR to reach a power output of about 700 Gigawatts.
The NSWR would make it possible to reach planets in the outer Solar System in just a few months while traditional rockets need at least a few years to reach Saturn. And that's just getting there. Getting back would take just as long.
To read more, click here.