Design of a rapid transit to Mars mission using laser-thermal propulsion

Re:Design of a rapid transit to Mars mission using laser-the... by nine_k on Thursday February 17, 2022 @01:52PM (#30377035)

A strategically placed powerful magnet outside Mars can protect from the solar wind. There is an orbit that places the orbiting body always on the line between Mars and Sun. Place a superconducting magnet there that generates a few Tesla. Due to the distance from the planet, even though the magnet will deflect more distant particles to relatively small angles, this should still be enough to keep Mars completely in the "shadow".

Of course you'll have to and solar-powered thrusters to keep it on the orbit, and fly regular missions to replenish fuel in the ion drives. But thil looks doable even with today's level of technology, given enough money.

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Re:Design of a rapid transit to Mars mission using laser-the... by potiuper on Sunday February 20, 2022 @04:17PM (#30409338)

The ‘intuitive’ strategy of building a compact electromagnet and placing it between Mars and the Sun at the first Lagrange point is unfeasible. The most feasible design is to encircle or wrap Mars at the equator with a superconducting wire loop. The resulting wire diameter could be as small as ∼5 cm. With this design, the magnetic shield would have a mass of ∼10^12 g and would require mining ∼10^18 g, or only 0.1% of Olympus Mons. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2006.05546.pdf

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