Nuclear power holds a lot of promise for humanity’s future. Its biggest potential lies in the worldwide effort to harness fusion—the energy-producing process that powers the Sun—to provide limitless clean energy on Earth. However, fusion also has other non-terrestrial applications that could benefit humans traveling beyond the life-sustaining embrace of our planetary home.
A fusion rocket, for example, would have the immensely useful upside of being both powerful and efficient. This one-two propulsion punch could dramatically cut down travel times between planets—something that will be necessary if we have any hope of thriving beyond Earth. Now, in a surprise reveal, the U.K.-based company Pulsar Fusion revealed a reusable fusion rocket concept known as the “sunbird.” Unlike rockets today, which launch from some terrestrial platform, these rockets would be stored in orbital satellite docks, and would then serve as a kind of interplanetary tugboat for missions to Mars and beyond.
Good luck.
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