One of these technologies could be most interesting.

5/27/24:



Instapundit link: Pioneering space technologies being advanced at NASA: Pioneering space technologies being advanced at NASA



It's a pulsed plasma rocket, designed for rapid transit times to Mars.

newton to pound-force conversion table

100K newtons figures out to 22k lbf thrust @ 5000 ISP, for nuclear pulsed rocket technology mentioned above

At 5000 ISP, the rocket could fire for a long time, which would allow faster velocities. Typical rocket engines are less than 400 ISP, and fire for only a few minutes. However, a conventional rocket engine definitely has a lot more thrust. The longer firing times are necessary at the lower thrust, but since the nuclear pulsed rocket can fire for longer duration, the rocket can achieve higher velocities. Hence the shorter transit times.

Shorter transit times are desirable for protection of passenger's health, due to radiation and less gravity. Combine this advanced rocket with some artificial gravity, and a passenger could get to Mars and back in good health.



5/28/24:





Getting there isn't enough. That's why we need to prepare the planet for human occupation. Another interesting NASA research project.

Detoxifying Mars: dealing with those pesky perchrorates with biocatalysts, phase II