The future of space travel depends on our ability to reach celestial pit stops faster and more efficiently.
The potentially groundbreaking propulsion system is being developed by Arizona-based Howe Industries.
It would essentially produce a controlled jet of plasma to help propel the rocket through space.
An illustration of a spacecraft with the pulsed plasma rocket.Screenshot: Howe Industries
Its not an entirely new concept.
NASA began developing its own version back in 2018 under the name Pulsed Fission-Fusion (PuFF).
The pulsed plasma rocket, however, is smaller, simpler, and more affordable, according toNASA.
As it stands today with commonly used propulsion systems, a trip to Mars takes around nine months.
The less time humans can spend traveling through space, the better.
Shorter periods of exposure to space radiation and microgravity could help mitigate its effects on the human body.
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