2280 Advanced Propulsion for Future Space Exploration

This lecture will discuss the promising propulsion concepts that would enable us to visit successively further regions of our neighborhood in the Milky Way. A revolution in space travel will undoubtedly depend on having cheap access to space. The discussion will start with launch technologies that may decrease the launch cost for deep space travel from about $100,000 per kg to a few hundred dollars per kg. The lecture will then cover the most promising plasma propulsion concepts for taking us cheaply to the Moon and quickly to Mars. The propulsion options for inter-stellar flight and the feasibility of inter-galactic travel will also be discussed, using a recently completed map of the universe.