Dr. Fatima Ebrahimi, who works for the US Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), has invented a new fusion rocket that could one day take humans to Mars.
The device uses magnetic fields to shoot plasma particles from the back of the rocket and propel the craft through space.
Using magnetic fields allows scientists to tailor the amount of thrust for a particular mission and astronauts change the amount of thrust while piloting to distant worlds.
Ebrahimi's innovation would also take space faring heroes to the Red Planet 10 times faster than current rocket thrusters that use electric fields to propel the particles.
'I've been cooking this concept for a while,' said Ebrahimi.
'I had the idea in 2017 while sitting on a deck and thinking about the similarities between a car's exhaust and the high-velocity exhaust particles.'
'During its operation, this tokamak produces magnetic bubbles called plasmoids that move at around 20 kilometers per second, which seemed to me a lot like thrust.'
Fusion is the power that drives the sun and stars, and combines light elements in the form of plasma.
Plasma is the hot, charged state of matter composed of free electrons and atomic nuclei that represents 99 percent of the visible universe - and is capable of generating massive amounts of energy.
Scientists have been working around the clock to replicate fusion in a lab with the hopes of harnessing its power to produce electricity for rockets traveling through deep space.
Read more at dailymail.co.uk
