The Ad Astra Rocket Company
Advanced Plasma Rocket Propulsion!
Sounds like something out of a cool sci-fi book, but it's very real. It has been in development since the early 1970's. One company in particular, led by Franklin Chang Diaz, has made significant strides in the development of this new rocket engine. It may give us the ability to travel to any planet in our solar system faster than we ever thought.
In this post, I will be talking about the Ad Astra Rocket Company, and their VASIMR (Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket) Engine. We will also discuss some of the criticism that has fallen on this technology. Lets first get acquainted with the founder, and work our way to the advanced plasma rocket fun...
The Founder
What if you could take the same processes that power our sun, and control them? This was an interesting idea that drove Franklin Chang Diaz in his study of plasma at MIT. In 1977, he wrote a paper on the subject of controlling plasma with the use of magnetic mirrors. It took 6 years to build the first experiment that tested his ideas. He refined the model over many years, adding and replacing elements of it. Highly recognized for his work, NASA made him director of the newly formed Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory (ASPL), located at the NASA Johnson Space Center. Further study of this engine was conducted there. After more testing of this engine, in 1998 the name VASIMR, and VASIMR Experiment (VX) was officially chosen to represent this type of engine. By 2005, full and efficient plasma production was accomplished for the first time. The same year, the VASIMR technology became privatized when NASA signed the first Space Act Agreement along with the newly formed company, The Ad Astra Rocket Company. Diaz retired from NASA after 25 years to become CEO of the new company.
The Company, the Mission...
Years of dedicated research brought about this company. Knowing that this type of propulsion is possible, the company's main goal is to put a fully operational model into space by 2014. They will test their first flight ready model, the VF-200 (VASIMR Flight - 200KW) aboard the International Space Station. After testing on the ISS, missions will be conducted close to earth, and eventually will go farther out into our solar system conducting missions to the moon and beyond. Ad Astra has 2 locations, one in Webster, Texas and one on the campus of Earth University, located in Costa Rica. The site in Webster is the main site where they test the current VASIMR model VX-200. The site in Costa Rica mainly conducts research which can optimize the VASIMR engine, and also provides other advanced analysis in vacuum and high temperature environments.
The Engine, and why I like it.
I love a good chemical rocket engine like anyone else. They can create big and beautiful bursts of flame, noise, and thrust if made well. They remind me of an expensive sports car, built for power and speed, but these types of vehicles are not intended for very long trips. The rocket will only carry itself upward and out of our atmosphere, and then out into space for as long as there is fuel in the rocket. In space there is the added benefit of Newtons 1st law, which means the rocket will be able to maintain the speed it is at when the rocket has run out of fuel. But what if you could create a rocket engine that uses less energy, but constantly accelerates, and accelerates, getting faster and faster? That is the great advantage of the VASIMR engine.
The VASIMR engine is an electric powered, low thrust, long burning engine. It creates its thrust by ionizing a gas, turning the gas into an extremely hot plasma, and ejecting the plasma out the end (for a more thorough description on how the engine works, visit the Ad Astra technology page). When we talk about the heat of plasma, we are talking about temperatures around 1 million kelvin (1.8 million F) and hotter! You typically would find these types of temperatures only on the Sun. Since the plasma has a lot of energy, it moves at a high rate of speed, and the superconducting magnets can then direct the travel of the plasma outward. Typical gases used are hydrogen, xenon, and argon. It's low thrust compared to your typical rocket engine, so it would not be able to lift off from Earth and take itself into space. Another reason (a big reason) why it can't do that is it requires a vacuum in order to work.
The big advantage it has over a chemical rocket is that the VASIMR can stay burning for a very long time. When I say a long time, I mean this engine can continue burning for weeks! A chemical rocket would never last that long, since it is uses its fuel a lot less efficiently. Add the fact that the engine will constantly accelerate in space during its burn, this vehicle will be pushed to speeds of hundreds of thousands of miles per hour.
Reality Check: one big hurdle
Ad Astra recognizes there is one large problem to building this type of engine, and that is electric power. The VF-200 which will fly aboard the ISS requires a 200KW power source. They will use solar panels in order to generate what they need. However, they will require a much greater power source if they plan to do missions to Mars and beyond. Their only other option which can give them that power is a nuclear power generator, and unfortunately that technology will take many more years of research before we see it in space. Last September, Jeff Foust wrote a great article in which he summed up how the Mars Society deemed the VASIMR to be merely hype. The Society talks about problems in design, its utilization, and policies which can actually hinder our chances to go to Mars. If you would like to watch the video of the Mars Society presentation mentioned, here is a link.
Is it possible that this company only sells a far off dream and not a reality that can be achieved by this generation?
My personal opinion (for what its worth)
I like this company, they are ambitious, and they want to bring the future into the present. Yes, they have a big road block in their way, being nuclear power. But they have recognized the road block, so they will need to ask the question "how do we get past it?" or "Is there another way around the road block?" They will have the chance to prove themselves with the VF-200 model within the next couple of years. I believe in the intelligence at the Ad Astra Rocket Company, and I respect the fact that they want to see the technology progress. I like that they want to get to Mars in 39 days, and they should be given the chance to try. The technology we need may not always be waiting for us 2 to 3 years down the road, which I think is an idea Diaz has grown comfortable with and understands.
The Mars Society president Robert Zubrin made a point that VASIMR is being touted by policy makers as a reason why we should not go to Mars today, since they want this technology to develop first. VASIMR, is regarded as the "toll booth," or the only way to get to Mars. I agree that this engine should not be used by policy makers in that way, and the technology should develop at its own natural rate. However, I will not condemn the actions of Ad Astra of promoting their technology and being aggressive. If they believe they can do it, they should be able to prove it. I will however, condemn the policy makers who believe in using VASIMR as a "toll-both," instead of treating it as one of many options to go to Mars. But isn't it typical of policy makers to write policies against our best interests? You would think not, you would hope not, but we run into that same problem over and over again. So the only solution is that we have to be active as we can in dealing with the policy makers in helping them understand future technologies, and putting them in perspective. That way we can be as ambitious and as willing to try new things as we can be. I wish Ad Astra the best of luck in the coming years with VASIMR testing, and hope to see a fully functional engine in space soon.
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Links:
Franklin Chang Diaz Personal Website
*New PBS Special
The Ad Astra Company was just featured in a new episode of NOVA Science Now with Neil DeGrasse Tyson. It aired Wednesday, January 19th for the first time. Check local listings to find the next time it airs.
So what do you think about Ad Astra and VASIMR? Please make sure to leave a comment!
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4 Comments
Reader Comments (4)
Video of the VASiMR firing for 25 seconds at full power in the Webster TX lab.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRS26DcQhq0
Wow the rocket looks cool and very futuristic.
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I like Dr. Zubrin , He is prudent and likes things that actually work. Going to Mars is the next milestone in human space flight. Dr. Chang-Diaz is a high caliber professional with solid credentials in spaceflight and running a high tech propulsion lab. Where do you choose the right idea in these matters? I'd go with the guy that can get us the farthest; plasma rockets have more potential than the chemical workhorses we've been using since WWII! Policy makers 'hate' coming in last place when it comes to science and technology issues... 'science and technology' isn't a national priority; ironically who is going to remember our national problems in fifty or a hundred or a thousand years from now? But establishing ourselves in space and on worlds beyond Earth will be of great significant to lives of those humans who will be alive then.
Hey Tom,
Thanks for the comment! I agree with you that we need to establish ourselves beyond the Earth, and should invest in new ideas. Dr. Chang-Diaz definitely needs to have more time (and money) before he can really prove his engine is a viable alternative. We may not see anything significant develop from Ad Astra in years, but for now there may be ways of making it to the Moon and Mars for a relatively inexpensive price through the Falcon Heavy or Super Heavy models being developed by SpaceX. I hope to see significant nuclear power generation in my life time, and if it happens, we may see this plasma tech take off fast.