1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,000 Thanks, Anita. Sounds pretty cool. You know, NASA is working on another propulsion technology. 2 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:17,000 It's called VASIMR. Dr. Franklin Chang-Diaz can tell us more about that technology. 3 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:25,000 Thank you. My name is Franklin Chang-Diaz. I'm an astronaut and director of the Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory. 4 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:32,000 I would like to share with you another possible advanced space propulsion technology that we've been working on for many years. 5 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:39,000 It is called the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket, or VASIMR for short. 6 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:44,000 This new engine would allow for much faster space travel than what we can do today. 7 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:48,000 VASIMR is a plasma-based propulsion system. 8 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:56,000 Do you remember the four states of matter? They are solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. 9 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:03,000 You can go from one state to the other by adding or subtracting heat from the material. 10 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:13,000 Take water, for example. Its solid state is ice. Add heat and you get liquid. Add more heat and you get gas or vapor. 11 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:20,000 If you add even more heat to the gas, the atoms in it get torn or broken. 12 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:30,000 Remember, each atom is sort of like an egg. It has a central nucleus, the yolk, with positive particles in it called protons, 13 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:37,000 and a blanket, the white, of negative charged particles called electrons in it. 14 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:46,000 When the atom gets torn, these charges are free to roam around every which way. Scrambled eggs. 15 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:51,000 Such a mixture of charged particles is called plasma. 16 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:59,000 Plasmas are very hot, with temperatures of hundreds of thousands to millions of degrees. 17 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:03,000 The sun and the stars are made of plasma. 18 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:11,000 Plasmas are very good conductors of electricity and they respond very well to electric and magnetic fields. 19 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:22,000 We use these properties to heat them and also to confine them and use their extreme heat to produce awesome rocket propulsion. 20 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:26,000 Electric fields heat the plasma and speed it up. 21 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:33,000 Magnetic fields direct the plasma in the right direction as it is pushed out of the engine. 22 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,000 This creates thrust for the spacecraft. 23 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:46,000 Possible fuels for the VASIMR engine could include hydrogen, deuterium, helium, nitrogen, and others. 24 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:53,000 The use of hydrogen as a fuel for the project would also have other benefits. 25 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:57,000 Hydrogen can be found all throughout space. 26 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:03,000 This means we are likely to find plentiful supplies of fuel everywhere we go, 27 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:08,000 and we could refuel the spacecraft for the return trip to Earth. 28 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:15,000 Also, strong magnetic fields and liquid hydrogen make for great radiation shields. 29 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:24,000 This means the hydrogen fuel for the VASIMR engine, as well as the magnet technology we are developing for it, 30 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:32,000 could both also be used to protect the astronaut crew from dangerous radiation exposure during the flight. 31 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:41,000 This is how technology developed for one thing can also be used for another equally important purpose. 32 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:51,000 To heat and accelerate the plasma in deep space flights, VASIMR will use electricity from nuclear power. 33 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:59,000 VASIMR is still years away from transporting humans and cargo to Mars and beyond. 34 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:04,000 Remember the scenario that Jennifer gave you at the beginning of the program. 35 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:09,000 Our team can only take this advanced technology so far. 36 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:11,000 And then it will be up to you. 37 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:17,000 Your generation will make this space propulsion system a reality. 38 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:25,000 Some of you may one day fly on it and become the astronauts that will build the first base on Mars. 39 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,000 I've been in space seven times. 40 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:35,000 But you will be the astronauts who will get a chance to explore the Moon, Mars, and beyond. 41 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:38,000 You are the next generation of explorers. 42 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:40,000 So, good luck. 43 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:42,000 Back to you, Jennifer. 44 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:46,000 My thanks to Dr. Chang Diaz. 45 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:52,000 You know, I can't wait for the day when we receive the first transmission from people on Mars. 46 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:55,000 And maybe you'll be one of them. 47 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,000 Well, that wraps up another episode of NASA Connect. 48 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:02,000 We'd like to thank everyone who helped make this program possible. 49 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:04,000 Got a comment, question, or suggestion? 50 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:10,000 Well, email them to connect at lark.nasa.gov. 51 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:14,000 And don't forget to check out this program's student challenge. 52 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:17,000 You can find it on the NASA Connect website. 53 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:24,000 So until next time, stay connected to math, science, technology, and NASA. 54 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:27,000 And maybe we'll see you on Mars.