NASA is gearing up for another human moon mission by 2030, but that doesn’t mean they don’t still have their sights set on Mars. Recently the space organization tested their Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine or the RDRE, a prototype that could get astronauts to Mars more efficiently.
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00:02 NASA is gearing up for another human moon mission soon,
00:06 but that doesn't mean they don't still have their sights
00:08 set on Mars.
00:09 And recently the space organization tested
00:11 their rotating detonation rocket engine, or the RDRE,
00:15 a prototype that could get astronauts
00:17 to Mars more efficiently.
00:18 The rocket engine produced some 5,800 pounds of thrust
00:22 for 251 seconds.
00:24 That's up from just over 4,000 pounds of thrust
00:26 it produced for only a single minute last year.
00:29 They still have more tests in the works
00:30 before they scale it up to a full-size rocket.
00:32 But before that, they eventually want this same engine
00:35 to produce around 10,000 pounds of thrust.
00:37 They say this is a massive leap
00:39 over previous generations of rocket technology
00:41 in terms of efficiency,
00:43 meaning it could lead to less fuel used over time,
00:45 a crucial aspect of sustained space travel.
00:48 Not only will it be cheaper to send astronauts into space,
00:51 but it will also allow them to travel greater distances.
00:53 And since Mars is around 200 times the distance
00:56 of the Earth to the moon,
00:57 our current record for sending humans,
00:59 we're going to need all the efficiency we can get.
01:01 With NASA saying in a statement, quote,
01:03 "It demonstrates we are closer
01:05 to making lightweight propulsion systems
01:07 that will allow us to send more mass and payload
01:09 further into deep space,
01:11 a crucial component to NASA's Moon to Mars vision."
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