It is the brain child of inventor and visionary Charles Bombardier of Montreal and it is called the Space Express. When completed, Bombardier claims that the space craft will be able to travel so fast that it will be able to get to Mars in less than 48 hours.
He and his research team expect the completed craft to able to travel over 1,800 miles per second, a third the speed of light, and be able to efficiently carry supplies, payloads, and travelers like nothing that has ever been seen on Earth. Right now, the project is just in its concept stage but it has been designed out to the point where construction could begin if the funding were in place.
The space train would be composed of several cylinders that would line up like a modern day freight train carrying boxcars. They would all be 164 feet long and would ride like a train. The propulsion method would be rocket fuel but there would be a small reserve tank on board. This reserve would be used to slingshot the train around certain bodies in space so as to increase its speed toward the destination without burning excess amounts of fuel.
Inventor and visionary, Charles Bombardier of Montreal.
Bombardier says that, “Huge solar arrays located along the train’s path could be used to capture solar energy and transfer it by laser to supercapacitors. Water harvested from comets or small moons would be used for humans living on the train and transported to other stations. The harvested water could also be used to create hydrogen and propellant but the main propulsion system should take the form of ion thrusters.”
Bombardier’s plan is that the Space Express will always be in motion. It will be like a traveling space station. Other ships can get to it and dock if need be but the train, in theory, won’t stop. Others will be able to shuttle supplies and travelers but the ship itself will keep moving in an effort to save on overall costs, especially fuel and water. The start up costs for such a project, however, seem astronomical.
The main problem that humankind has always faced with regard to moving beyond Earth an traveling into the far reaches of space has always been the enormous distances and how to effectively get there without having to take years just to get to the Asteroid Belt.
Bombardier is hopeful, however, as he concludes that, “Obviously, there is a lot to consider starting with dimensions, masses, speeds, energy etc.. How do you control such a complex vehicle? The Solar Express is a basic idea and we would like to know how we could improve it.”
PHOTO CREDITS: Imaginactive.org