Stephen Hawking impacted the world of science in a multitude of ways. His research and theories have now become more prevalent than ever. The Russian state owned and operated Rosatom have unveiled their latest plasma engine that is powered by the fuel of the future, hydrogen. The new engine is specifically designed for space exploration and puts a lot of what Hawking predicted into practical use, at least that’s what they claim. If successful, the engine will be capable of 100km\s and reach 140 Million miles in just a month.
What have the Russian scientist created that is so amazing?
The space race has been dominated by America and Russia since the early days when we began to wonder what was out there in space and what was the best way for us to take a closer look. The space race was brought back into the public’s attention by SpaceX and their claims of sending a mission to Mars. Which if they were to use current technology could take several months. This poses a threat to the astronauts as space radiation is a serious problem.
Human beings are not capable of spending that much time in space. So the scientist at Rosatom have designed a new plasma rocket that is capable of 100km\s. That would reduce the travel time to the red planet to just about 30 days. A truly astonishing achievement if they can actually do it. While the project is still in the testing phase, the potential has the world excited as to the practical applications.
“The rocket works by charging particles between two electrodes. At the same time a high voltage is applied to the electrodes,” said Egor Biriulin, a junior researcher at Rosatom’s scientific institute in Troitsk. This creates a magnetic field that pushes the particles out of the engine. Giving the plasma directional motion and thrust. To top it all off, the engine uses hydrogen as its fuel source. The world remains speculative as to the effectiveness of hydrogen as a fuel.
What are the implications for space travel with this new plasma engine?
Stephen Hawking had some revolutionary theories regarding black holes and the radiation that they seemingly create at random. His work in the field was considered to be a whole new way of thinking about space and physics. His theories regarding black holes and how they manipulate the plasma in them is what has led to the creation of this new engine.
The scientists at Rosatom have been able to develop this engine directly based on the research and theories of Hawking. Working to prove his predictions for space exploration if the plasma technology were studied further. His predictions have been proven to be nearly exactly correct by the plasma engine. The Russian scientists have taken his idea and actually turned into something that we can see in a few years.
Rosatom states that they have created a vacuum chamber that simulates the environment in space to test the new plasma rocket. And that the project might be ready for real world testing by 2030. That gives them time to study the plasma technology further and see how far Hawkings predictions can take them in their practical applications for the space race.
Will the human race be able to continue the space race?
At the heart of Hawking’s plasma and black hole research and the plasma engine being developed by Rosatom is space exploration. The world’s largest manufacturers are testing new fuel options for the mobility sector. If the scientist are able to actually produce this rocket, then the inevitable result will be that the technology will find its way down the production line to us. It must be stated that the scientist at Rosatom have not made their findings available for peer-review leaving the world wondering if this is just another Russian sponsored marketing plan.
