Students and faculty are working at the Earth and space sciences (ESS) lab are working on projects that will lead to an upcoming project to cut the costs and time of space travel. A combination of two current projects, the Magnetized Beamed Plasma Propulsion project, or “MagBeam” concept could greatly increase speeds of space travel by revolutionizing fuel efficiency for spacecrafts. According to project lead Robert Winglee, a UW professor of Earth and space sciences; the goal of the team is to make a spacecraft that can make a round trip to Mars in 90 days.
November 14th, 2004