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Space & Astronomy

Could a gravity trick speed us to Mars ?

By T.K. Randall
September 29, 2009 · Comment icon 5 comments

Image Credit: NASA
NASA engineer Robert Adams has proposed a new trick for flying to Mars based on a technique devised by Hermann Oberth in 1929 in which a two-burn maneuver is used to propel a spacecraft more quickly towards its destination.
Putting a human on Mars might be easier than anyone thought. A flight to the Red Planet currently takes at least six months, which is why we send robots—the trip is boring, fuel costs are astronomical, and cosmic radiation is nobody's friend.


Source: Wired | Comments (5)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #1 Posted by ROGER 15 years ago
Sling shooting a Gravity well will get you the speed to get to Mars fast, but then how do you stop? And of course it would be nice if you could come back!
Comment icon #2 Posted by ninjadude 15 years ago
Sling shooting a Gravity well will get you the speed to get to Mars fast, but then how do you stop? Aero-braking! didn't you watch the movie 2010? (wrong planet but ...)
Comment icon #3 Posted by Abramelin 15 years ago
Sling shooting a Gravity well will get you the speed to get to Mars fast, but then how do you stop? And of course it would be nice if you could come back! They slow down by turning the spaceship a 180 degrees in the opposite direction, and then blast the rocket engines; that should be enough. But because of the high speed it may cost so much fuel to slow down, that the advantage of that gravity trick will be lost completely.
Comment icon #4 Posted by Cookes453 15 years ago
We use our warpdrive to get to Mars, and our sublight engines to slow down, it's that simple everyone! =D
Comment icon #5 Posted by behaviour??? 15 years ago
As they said putting people on earth would be so boring that they would better be dying of some traumatic effects Thanks B???


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