Those who watched The Space Between Us would surely have a fresh memory of the plane that Gary Oldman’s character flew from the ground into space. The plane probably used plasma jet engines and they ...

The world’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels, especially for transportation, has left a deep mark on both the planet and public health. Burning these fuels releases a flood of greenhouse gases, which ...

Being more efficient and more powerful than chemical rockets, plasma engines are seen as the future of human spaceflight. While NASA-backed plasma rocket projects aim for travel times to Mars be just ...

FORGET fuel-powered jet engines. We’re on the verge of having aircraft that can fly from the ground up to the edge of space using air and electricity alone. Traditional jet engines create thrust by ...

Long before any spacecraft can attempt a faster journey to Mars, scientists must first solve one of space exploration’s ...

A new plasma thruster could scale up to compete with traditional jet engines. The plasma is magnified by high-intensity microwaves and pressurized air. Researchers had to invent a way to measure the 1 ...

The coming decades of space exploration hinge on a single, stubborn number: the 225 million kilometres between Earth and Mars ...

The big picture: In deep-space travel, the race is no longer about who has the biggest rocket – it's about who can build the smartest plasma engine. As the competition to reach Mars intensifies, ...

July 2, 2009 – Ad Astra Rocket Company has successfully demonstrated operation of its VX-200 plasma engine first stage at full power and under superconducting conditions in tests conducted today at ...