The how-to of getting to Mars is a bit trickier than the excitement of getting to the Red Planet, but researchers may have found a safer and cheaper way to get there, called "ballistic capture," according to CapitalBerg.
The fuel-saving method entails launching the Mars-bound probe into the path of orbit as the planet revolves around the sun. The probe will get pulled into Mar's orbit as the probe slows itself down. Reverse fuel burn to brake would be eliminated.
"It's an eye-opener, it could be a pretty big step for us and really save us resources and capability, which is always what we're looking for," James Green, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, told Scientific American. Ballistic capture could also avoid the wasted time and money of missed launch windows.
However, there are a few issues with this approach. A typical Mars mission is estimated at six months of bodies in tight quarters. If the ballistic capture method is used, the journey would take several additional months which would put additional wear and fatigue on astronauts, according to Scientific American.
"What we want to do is leverage [ballistic capture] to put more mass on the ground," Green told Scientific American. "That's the dream."
Edward Belbruno stumbled upon the idea of ballistic capture 25 years ago while working in NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Belbruno and his colleagues had the idea to apply the idea to a Mars mission while consulting Boeing Corp., the major contractor for NASA's Space Launch System, according to Scientific American.
This new look at ballistic capture is still in the theory stage, but NASA hopes to test it out in the 2020s.
"The route to the moon I found in 1991 was thought to be perhaps the only application of my theory," Belbruno told Scientific American. "I am very excited about this Mars result."
