Russia could lead the space race once again with this new revolutionary engine. The Japanese have invested heavily in hydrogen, and the American innovation is being led by Tesla. Russia has the capacity to compete with the world’s superpowers, and now they have a new type of engine that could see them launch the human race into space at incredible speeds. The political climate is very tense at the moment. And the race to get humans to the surface of Mars is the new frontier that all are looking to get to.
What makes this new Russian engine so special?
The Russians have always had the ambition to compete on the global stage. In almost every aspect, they have invested huge amounts of state resources into moving their country, and the human race to be fair, forward. Their extremely hard work ethic has become a cliche amongst the rest of the world. They deliver impressive results while operating in very hard conditions under very strict budgets.
Russian state-owned and operated Rosatom have developed a new plasma based rocket engine that could change the future of space travel forever. The rocket uses a plasma based propulsion system that is very different to the traditional way of getting a rocket into space that we have all become accustomed to. The Russians have been quietly developing the engine that has amazing potential.
The engine is so powerful that it effectively could cut the travel time to Mars, currently calculated to be around one year, to one or two months. That is a drastic reduction. The engine offers a solution to the major problem for us humans when it comes to interplanetary travel. Our bodies are weak and frail, the prolonged exposure to gamma rays in space is a problem that has limited our potential to explore for long periods.
What does this mean for the rest of the major space programs?
Before Tesla became a household name, Elon musk’s baby was SpaceX. And he managed it into an extremely profitable position. After sending more than 7000 satellites into space, SpaceX leapfrogged NASA and became the global authority on how to launch anything into space. Now they have a mutual understanding and beneficial partnership with the American government and NASA.
The rest of the world are focusing on the EV or what the next alternative fuel we will use to power everything from our cars to mining equipment. Russia is focusing on a larger picture that could establish them as the biggest force in the race to Mars. That is the short term goal of the space race after all. To land a human on the red planet. With Musk making promises about sending a craft to Mars, the Russians seem to be ahead in actually getting there.
Great innovation is happening in the transport sector. However, the large scale effects that the innovation the space race brings to humanity inevitably end up in the cars we all drive. The new engine is no doubt a remarkable achievement from the Russians, and the next question becomes, how long will it take until they deem the engine safe enough for actual use instead of controlled tests in a lab?
Has the Russians become the world leader in the innovation of transport technology?
The innovation that can be found in this new plasma engine can redefine the transport sector. And the world has made great strides towards a zero-emission future. Has that freed up the world to focus on answering questions that have plagued the minds of the best thinkers in history? Questions like, are we alone in the universe? It would appear that the Russians have at least managed to find a faster way to get the answers to those burning questions. And the world could not be more excited with the prospect, no matter what part of the world it comes from.
