Seeker by Nancy Atkinson 6/30/2017
According to several experts who testified before Congress this week, we may be on the cusp of advances that could dramatically transform how we fly through space.
T here’s a saying among space exploration enthusiasts that human missions to Mars have always been 20 years ahead of available technology. We’ve never quite had the significant research investment and development needed for propulsion, life support, and the ability to land large payloads — to name just a few critical elements — in order to establish human settlements on Mars.
But according to several experts who testified before Congress this week, we may be on the cusp of advances that could radically alter how we fly through space, with breakthroughs that could allow faster travel, larger payloads, and greater efficiency in propulsion. Space industry leaders discussed recent advances in in-space propulsion that were brought about, in part, by the all-but-canceled Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), which may surprise some of the program’s critics.
Participants in the hearing, which was held by the Space Subcommittee of the House Committee on Space, Science, and Technology, were part of the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP), a public-private collaborative model that uses commercial development of deep space exploration capabilities to support more extensive human spaceflight missions with NASA.
“The development of our in-space propulsion and power technologies are essential for future exploration,” Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), the subcommittee chair, told Seeker following the hearing. “The work that NASA is doing to adapt its current work on solar electric propulsion to a Deep Space Gateway architecture and further pursuit of high-power in-space propulsion for a Deep Space Transport are key to ensuring that human exploration of Mars is affordable and sustainable. Future development of these technologies will be essential to unlocking the secrets of our solar system’s ocean worlds, like Europa.”
“I believe space travel beckons humanity even more today than it did 50 years ago.”
More:
https://www.seeker.com/space/exploration/the-future-of-deep-space-propulsion-may-soon-be-radically-altered