# What type of propulsion system will get us to mars? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 28, 2011, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595 "2011-07-28T06:11:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595/21 "2011-07-28T17:58:42Z")
You mean constantly biking at a rate of 25mph? Never. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595/22 "2011-07-28T18:13:34Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > You mean constantly biking at a rate of 25mph? > > Never. Ahh, yeh, I was thinking their acceleration would grow exponentially. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595/23 "2011-07-28T18:16:54Z")
If they were able to sustain 40 kph for 14 days, they’d reach almost 4 kilometers per second. And imagine the smell… ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595/24 "2011-07-28T18:24:20Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Anti-matter rockets. Because they are the coolest of the _at the edge of possible_ propulsion systems. But isn’t that total overkill for just putting around our own solar system? Hydrogen fusion seems like it would be more than enough. It’s even enough for interstellar exploration, if my calculations are right. A 50-megaton H-bomb releases enough energy to accelerate a VW Bug to 0.5 c, unless I crunched the numbers wrong. So if the 2050 figure I quoted above actually pans out, and we can figger out how to build a usable probe in the 3000 pound range, a trip to Tau Ceti that returns results in 30 years will be doable in the lifetimes of children alive right now. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595/25 "2011-07-28T18:37:54Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > If they were able to sustain 40 kph for 14 days, they’d reach almost 4 kilometers per second. And imagine the smell… Agent Smith meets HAL9000 and gives his “It’s the smell…” speech. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595/26 "2011-07-28T18:54:27Z")
There’s no reason to make a manned flight to Mars, therefore the point is moot. ---
**Author:** ![SmithCommaJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@SmithCommaJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmithCommaJohn)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595/27 "2011-07-28T19:09:24Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > There’s no reason to make a manned flight to Mars, therefore the point is moot. The question was “how could we get to Mars?”, not “Should we go to Mars?” ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595/28 "2011-07-28T19:14:47Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Agent Smith meets HAL9000 and gives his “It’s the smell…” speech. 😛 I can also imagine the phrase, blurted out by the commander, “We’re coming in too hot, we’re gonna miss our entry window… PEDAL FASTER!!!” ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595/29 "2011-07-28T19:14:56Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > There’s no reason to make a manned flight to Mars, therefore the point is moot. Are you new here? When has a point being moot EVER effected a thread? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595/30 "2011-07-28T19:19:48Z")
> [@](#): > > …hooked up to a motor, that would transfer pedaling to thrust. How? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595/31 "2011-07-28T19:20:49Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > How? Propellor? ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595/32 "2011-07-28T20:02:26Z")
Props don’t do too well in a vacuum. Neither do oars, unless they’re space oars. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595/33 "2011-07-28T21:03:51Z")
I think the good **Dr** was probably referring to an ætheric propeller. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595/34 "2011-07-28T21:43:04Z")
It’s entirely possible – but remarkably inefficient! – to use muscle power to accelerate a spaceship, and, if that’s the way one wants to go, using a pedaling apparatus, like a stationary bicycle, is a fairly good way to harness muscle power. If you were going to power a TV set, for instance, a generator hooked to pedals would work. (I believe there are people who have built such systems.) The pedals could tauten large springs, or store energy in flywheels: at intervals, this energy could be released in hurling masses backwards. Sort of like a “bow and arrow” effect. The arrow goes backwards, the ship goes forwards… Now, it’s gonna take a few **millennia** … Trinopus ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595/35 "2011-07-28T21:53:10Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > The pedals could tauten large springs, or store energy in flywheels: at intervals, this energy could be released in hurling masses backwards. Sort of like a “bow and arrow” effect. The arrow goes backwards, the ship goes forwards… Are you talking about throwing the mass away, or just moving it backward within the ship? (the former will work, until you run out of mass to throw away, but the latter won’t get you anywhere at all) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595/36 "2011-07-28T22:12:51Z")
The method Ron Obvious intended for [jumping the channel](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvk2wNWmB20)might work. You just need to launch something out of Earth orbit towards Mars to get things started. > [@Ron Obvious](#): > > If you’re 5 miles out, over the English Channel, with nothing but sea around you, there’s a very great impetus to stay in the air Should work equally as well in space. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595/37 "2011-07-28T22:19:36Z")
Bad checks. There is truly nothing faster. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595/38 "2011-07-28T23:33:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I think the good **Dr** was probably referring to an ætheric propeller. Poul Anderson once wrote a story about using a bicycle to travel between planets. Okay, they were terraformed asteroids. And the bicycle was used to agitate beer kegs to release CO2 as a reaction mass. But it worked. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595/39 "2011-07-29T00:13:59Z")
Oh, so Ashley and I are headed for Mars after all. Good to know. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cephalus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Cephalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cephalus)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595/40 "2011-07-29T00:31:39Z")
VASIMIR, people, the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket is going to take us to Mars. It’s just your classic sci-fi space ship engine. You take some radio waves, excite some gas till it’s plasma, then use powerful magnetic fields to force it out of the back of your Mars bound space craft. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-propulsion-system-will-get-us-to-mars/590595.md?page=3)