Nasa genius invents engine concept
A NASA scientist has cooked up plans for a bonkers new rocket engine that can reach close to the speed of light – without using any fuel.
Travelling at such speeds, the theoretical machine could carry astronauts to Mars in less than 13 minutes, or to the Moon in just over a second.
However, the real purpose of the so-called “helical engine” would be to travel to distant stars far quicker than any existing tech, according to Nasa engineer Dr David Burns.
Dr Burns, from Nasa’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, unveiled the idea in a head-spinning paper posted to Nasa’s website.
“This in-space engine could be used for long-term satellite station-keeping without refuelling,” Dr Burns writes in his paper.
“It could also propel spacecraft across interstellar distances, reaching close to the speed of light.”
Travelling at these speeds, light would struggle to keep up with you, warping your vision in bizarre ways.
Everything behind you would appear black, and time would appear to stop altogether, with clocks slowing down to a crawl and planets seemingly ceasing to spin.
Dr Burns’ mad idea is revolutionary because it does away with rocket fuel altogether.
Today’s rockets, like those built by Nasa and SpaceX, would need tonnes of propellants like liquid hydrogen to carry people to Mars and beyond.
Read the full story on: The Sun.