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    Space travel has come a long way over the last 40 years, but there are still a lot of advances to make. The shuttles launched today use chemical fuel that is very expensive, doesn’t last long, and slows down the spacecraft drastically. Most advances in space travel will be ways to make a more fuel-efficient spacecraft.

Solar Sails

     The solar sail was an idea formed nearly a century ago but is now becoming more of a reality. They are lightweight sails made from reflective material that use the photons emitted from the sun to push it across the solar system. They are more efficient than conventional rockets because rockets need fuel, which adds more weight, which slows the rocket down. But the solar sails don’t need any fuel so they are much lighter and can travel up to 90 km per second. That’s almost 10 times faster than a space shuttle, and since it doesn’t need fuel it doesn’t need costly and time consuming re-fueling missions.

Ion Engines

     Ion engines are electrically charged and work by ejecting positive ions from the back of the rocket, propelling the spacecraft forwards. Even though the ion engine’s blast is very small, it is extremely efficient, because the fuel lasts much longer, which makes the rocket much lighter and cheaper to launch. In 1998, NASA tried to experiment with the new engine in a rocket called “Deep Space 1”. It has been in space for longer than any other conventional rocket. Future space missions with this engine are already planned, and because of this great invention the missions will be much more efficient.

Nuclear Power

     There are two types of nuclear rockets, using both kinds of nuclear reactions. Using nuclear fission, and nuclear fusion. Nuclear rockets using fission of atoms could travel more than twice the speed of chemical rockets and are also much lighter. Nuclear rockets using fusion would be 10 million times stronger than chemical rockets. Though this would be a very good way of space travel, nuclear rockets would have to be used far away form earth because nuclear waste might travel back to earth.

Antimatter Space Craft

     A very new idea called antimatter is being developed. There is a particle and an antiparticle in every atom. If these two particles were to meet then all of their mass would be converted into energy. For example, the amount the size of an aspirin could power a spacecraft hundreds of light years. The problem with antimatter is that it takes more energy to produce than it creates. Another problem is the question of how can it be stored when it explodes instantaneously. The antimatter spacecraft has many more technical obstacles to overcome but it is foreseen that it will be ready in 30-40 years.

Flying Saucers

     Flying saucers have been known about for many years, because of movies and television. But these fictional vehicles may be seen in the near future, flying humans around earth or even to the moon. The light craft is a new spacecraft that looks like a flying saucer. It is powered by infrarad lasers that reflect off the panels of the ship and heats the air around it to nearly 5 times the heat of the surface of the sun. This extreme heat causes an explosion that thrusts the saucer forward. This means that this spacecraft won’t need any fuel at all. Unfortunately the largest working light craft is a mere 15cm in diameter and only travels 30 meters a second.

Space Elevators

     NASA has recently set a goal of making a 40,000 kilometer high elevator extending into space. It will cut back on the expensive earth to space missions that use a lot of fuel. It would use cars on magnetic tracks that pull the cars up and down the elevator. It will make space travel much less expensive, though it isn’t expected to be made until the end of the century.

     There are many more advances to make in the technology of space travel. Advances that save money and resources on space missions. Some of these advances are already being made, though some are not expected for a long while. All of these will be a very big contribution to space exploration.