Cost Efficient?
Is it worth our time?
Space travel is a relatively new "thing". The true founder of the space program was Robert H. Goddard. He launched the first liquid fueled rocket on March 16th, 1926. This concept was soon elaborated, put on a big scale, and would eventually become the propellant for rockets headed out of the earth’s atmosphere.
Liquid fueled rockets would become the standard for space travel. The Germans, Nazi engineers, were the first to put liquid fueled rockets on a large scale. They invented the V-2 Rocket. The V-2 was a liquid propelled rocket that never left the atmosphere but reached altitudes
of many miles.Soon after the war, the U.S. and Soviet Union started what was called the "Space Race". The "Space Race" was started in the late forties and continued on throughout the sixties. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth. The U.S., however, was the first to put a man on the moon. Neil Armstrong and company set foot on the lunar surface on July 20th, 1969. This, as Neil put it, was "One small step for man…one giant leap for mankind".
Since the moon landing, NASA, The National Aeronautics and Space Program, has put countless satellites and probes into space. All of these satellites, (birds as they are called), and probes are all liquid fueled. There lies the problem with space travel. Liquid propellants are extremely bulky, heavy, and not to mention expensive. It costs $16,000/lb to send something out of the earths orbit. It really isn’t practical for space travel to be a regular thing at that astronomical price!
In the past four years NASA has come a long way in the advancement of technology in the space sector. They have come up with the idea of plasma propulsion. Plasma propulsion makes use of gas, cathode and anode rays, and magnetic fields. It is a very detailed and complex engine
configuration (www.nasa.gov). Plasma propulsion, despite its complexity, will revolutionize the 21st century and beyond. It has the capability, even today, to create exhaust speeds of 10,000km/s! That is an amazing speed, since conventional liquid propelled rockets have never reached exhaust speeds of over 3.5km/s.Another solution for cost effective space travel would be propellant-less propulsion. These spacecraft would be super light, thus called "laser light-craft". The missions for these spacecraft would include: High-resolution imaging, secure communication, Global Positioning, and remote sensing. These spacecraft would not be very expensive to build or run, however, they would be strictly artificial intelligence, since human would not fit in these small ships.
The last solution, not practical in my opinion, is Advance chemical propulsion. This relates very closely to liquid propellants. It is just an expansion on modern rocketry, using liquid oxygen as well as alcohol, to thrust extremely heavy objects to and from space. Unfortunately, it is very expensive and bulky just like its predecessor liquid propellants.
I think that plasma propulsion is the engine of the future. It will make commercial space travel possible and very economical as well. It will cost a lot to make this concept a reality, however, it will be worth it in the end. If man can’t take care of its only life-sustaining planet…we better find a way to get to a new one when this one becomes worthless!