00:00 (soft music)
00:02 NASA is gearing up for another human moon mission soon,
00:06 but that doesn't mean they don't still have their sights
00:08 set on Mars.
00:09 And recently the space organization tested
00:11 their rotating detonation rocket engine, or the RDRE,
00:15 a prototype that could get astronauts
00:17 to Mars more efficiently.
00:18 The rocket engine produced some 5,800 pounds of thrust
00:22 for 251 seconds.
00:24 That's up from just over 4,000 pounds of thrust
00:26 it produced for only a single minute last year.
00:29 They still have more tests in the works
00:30 before they scale it up to a full-size rocket.
00:32 But before that, they eventually want this same engine
00:35 to produce around 10,000 pounds of thrust.
00:37 They say this is a massive leap
00:39 over previous generations of rocket technology
00:41 in terms of efficiency,
00:43 meaning it could lead to less fuel used over time,
00:45 a crucial aspect of sustained space travel.
00:48 Not only will it be cheaper to send astronauts into space,
00:51 but it will also allow them to travel greater distances.
00:53 And since Mars is around 200 times the distance
00:56 of the Earth to the moon,
00:57 our current record for sending humans,
00:59 we're going to need all the efficiency we can get.
01:01 With NASA saying in a statement, quote,
01:03 "It demonstrates we are closer
01:05 to making lightweight propulsion systems
01:07 that will allow us to send more mass and payload
01:09 further into deep space,
01:11 a crucial component to NASA's Moon to Mars vision."
01:14 (upbeat music)
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