>>5506663>>5506664Nuclear thermal rockets are good at constant thrust. The current distance to Mars is 0.525 AU or 78538882117.5 meters. As d and t is known, and vi can be assumed to be zero, 2d / t = final velocity = 909014.8 m/s or 0.3% the speed of light. As kinetic energy can be expressed as mv^2 / 2 , this means for every kg, 413153953309.5 Joules is required. As Watt is defined as Joules per Second, we can use J / t to find the required amount of power production. 2390937.2 watts per kilogram of mass.
The sad part is we're not capable of getting anywhere near that amount of joules per kg from carried fuel, even with nuclear thermal rockets.
The reason shit takes awhile to travel in space isn't because we can't go fast, but because the power required to make shit go fast gets insane. An optimal direct transfer orbit requires only 2900 m/s speedup then a long coast in contrast. Typical missions use around a 4500 m/s speedup which cuts down the coasting time a few months iirc.
