The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VSIMR) may be one of the keys to future human space flight providing a much higher ISP engine thrust and speeds of hundreds of thousands of miles per hour more traditional chemical rockets. The VSIMR has been designed by former NASA astronaut and MIT scientist Franklin Chang-Diaz.
With the new NASA budget proposing advanced space propulsion systems, the VSIMR is taking center stage. The yet-to-be-space-tested engine uses electricity to transform fuels like hydrogen, helium, or deuterium into plasma gas, which is then heated to 51.8 million degrees Fahrenheit and sent into tailpipes via magnetic field.
The VSIMAR propulsion system designers are now in talks with Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corporation and California-based SpaceX about boosting the system aboard either the Taurus-2 or Falcon 9 for LEO space deployment and testing at the International Space Station in 2013.
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