Engineers from McGill University, in Montreal, Canada, say they have developed a ‘laser-thermal propulsion’ system, where lasers are used to heat hydrogen fuel.
It is directed-energy propulsion, using large lasers fired from Earth to deliver power to photovoltaic arrays on a spacecraft, that generate electricity, and in turn thrust.
The spacecraft accelerates very quickly while near Earth, then races towards Mars over the next month, releasing the main vehicle to land on the Red Planet and returning the rest of the vehicle to Earth to be recycled for the next launch.
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