NASA: NASA tests rocket engines that can reduce Mars journey time for manned trips. Here is detail.

One more step has been taken on the path of the journey to Mars. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has successfully tested a new type of rocket engine that could one day take a spacecraft to Mars. Called Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE), the engine uses a new way of burning fuel to produce thrust. It detonates the fuel in a series of explosions instead of burning it in a continuous stream. It can generate more efficient and powerful burns, which could propel spacecraft to Mars in as little as four months. Currently, it takes engines around six months to reach the Red Planet.

New Type of engine

The new method achieves 25,810 newtons or 5,800 pounds of thrust for 251 seconds, while in 2022, it created 17,800 newtons of thrust for nearly a minute, a record at the time. It is an important step in the direction of creating a fully reusable 44-kilonewton class of the 3D-printed engine. It would support engine systems of all types and maximize the variety of missions it could serve.

NASA tests RDRE

NASA rested the RDRE recently at its Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, while the first hot fire test was performed at Marshall in the summer of 2022 in partnership with In Space LLC and Purdue University.

Talking to ‘The Sun’, Combustion Devices Engineer Thomas Teasley, who is leading the RDRE project, said, “The RDRE enables a huge leap in design efficiency.” He further said, “It demonstrates we are closer to making lightweight propulsion systems that will allow us to send more mass and payload further into deep space, a critical component to NASA’s Moon to Mars vision.”

FAQs

How is RDRE different from earlier engines?
Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE) uses a new way of burning fuel to produce thrust. It detonates the fuel in a series of explosions instead of burning it in a continuous stream. It can generate more efficient and powerful burns, which could propel spacecraft to Mars in as little as four months.When was RDRE tested?
NASA rested the RDRE recently at its Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, while the first fire test was performed at Marshall in the summer of 2022 in partnership with In Space LLC and Purdue University.