Lasers and laser-accelerated plasma can make spacecraft travel to the Moon, and even outside our solar system.

"Graphic depiction of Pellet-Beam Propulsion for Breakthrough Space Exploration. (Artur Davoyan/University of California)" (Shooting Tiny, High Speed Bullets at a Spacecraft Could Speed Up Travel to The Stars)

Nasa plans to use the laser beam to transport spacecraft to the orbital trajectory and even to the Moon. Using a laser as a booster can make a cheap way to transport spacecraft from the Earth to the moon station and back.  Maybe, someday in the future, this system transports the spacecraft to other solar systems.

The idea is that the laser beam creates the plasma or heat air under the craft. When the craft rises to the orbiter. A laser that orbits Earth will start to push the spacecraft to the Moon. Then, the spacecraft can land by using regular rocket engines. 

Another laser system that shoots the spacecraft back to Earth can locate on Moon. 

The laser beam can vaporize hydrogen or water that is in the rocket's fuel tank and make it travel to Earth. In some simplified models the parabolic mirrors that are vaporizing propellant can use to send spacecraft back to Earth from the Moon. 

But the laser-accelerated ion bullets can use to send spacecraft even out from the solar system. The idea is that the high-power laser ray can push ions and electrons in one direction. The idea is that accelerator sends a cloud of electrons and protons to the spacecraft. The electrons and protons have different polarities. And that thing keeps the high-speed plasma bullet in form. 

The plasma bullets can also use to turn the incoming asteroid out from the Earth. NASA plans to use the 10 MW spaceborne lasers in that system.  There is the possibility that this kind of laser-accelerated ion system can use antimatter plasma. The idea is that the antiprotons- and positrons are created by using a thin gold layer or magnetic field that turns their spin to the opposite. Then those antimatter particles can shoot against incoming asteroids. 

And the same systems that are pushing spacecraft to the moon and other places in the solar system can use to turn asteroids. The same system can also use to destroy satellites and ballistic missiles. But in that case, the antimatter is a little bit too powerful a tool. 

https://www.sciencealert.com/shooting-tiny-high-speed-bullets-at-a-spacecraft-could-speed-up-travel-to-the-stars

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The plasma-based propulsion

The plasma-based propulsion

There has been an idea to create the exotic plasmoid motor or engine system for the saucer-shaped spacecraft. The idea of that system bases the plasma ball, but the size or scale is bigger. In this system, the outer layer of this craft would be covered by the water, what is in plasmatic form. The high voltage electricity would make the craft hovering in the air, and follow the magnetic power line of the Earth.

The powerful magnets would pull the water to the outer layer of the craft, and the magnet would glue the ionized water to the outer layer of the craft. The magnets would influence the ionized material, and they can allow making a very strong core for every craft on the world. The ionized water would be pulled to the outer layer of the craft,  and then if there would be some other material around it, that layer would make possible to make layer what stands the extreme punches and pressure.

The thing is that for vaporizing the water, the temperature would be rise enough high, but if the water can't go away for some other reason, the layer would stand in the very high temperature, if the magnets would pull it to the layer. And if that water layer would be covered by using iron dust, the system would be extremely strong. In theory, this system would allow using of hydrogen, and the magnets would pull those atoms in the form of metallic hydrogen. 

But if we would use metals, the best results would get by using the pyramid-shaped iron molecules, what is making the layer, what can resist the extremely high pressure. And in theory, this system can travel in the nucleus of the Earth. And if the layer is made by using metallic hydrogen the theoretical journey in the center of planets like Jupiter will be true in somewhere in distant future.

The rockets and their problems

The rockets and their problems

If the rocket motor uses oxygen and hydrogen as the fuel, it would be a very clear choice. The problem with the rocket motor is the noise of those systems. So there have been researching for making quiet rocket motors, which would have more capacity than any other systems before.

Those engines are based on the idea that in the rocket chamber would put the extreme hot particle, and this will make possible to rise from the ground silently and gently.  The fast rockets need the aerodynamic shape, and that thing limits their capacities.

If we could create the rocket, what can rise to the orbital trajectory by the extremely slow speed, that would be revolutionized the spaceflight. The shape of the spacecraft could be like some kind of a rollercoaster. And that will make possible to load the system as easily as the rollercoaster. The astronauts could sit on the bed or hang under the craft, what would take them to the orbiter and the friction would not be the problem if the speed is low enough.

But the main problem is that the system needs the same much fuel as the normal rocket. And the rockets are so noisy as normal rockets. There is a way to create the rocket engine, which would not cause noise. But in real life, the creation of this system would be quite difficult in practical solutions.

The system bases the electric arc, what burns in the rockets combustion chamber. That system could, in theory, operated by using the warm air, what would conduct through the motor. and the motor would expand the space of the gas by heating it by using the electric arc.

That structure would be installed in the rocket engine. And there is a possibility that through the craft would installed the tube, which makes it possible to suck the air through it. So this thing is working like some kind of combination of the rocket and ramjet engine.

The system would heat the air below it, and the rising air would conduct to the chamber, where it flows to the downfall, this would cause the hover, what will raise the craft from the ground. The reason why that kind of systems is created is that they can use external power sources, like maser rays to create the needed electricity.

But it's hard to make those things without nuclear power. The thing why this kind of rocket engines are interested in the engineers is that they can also operate without propellant, which is normally stored in the rocket. In the electric rockets like ion motors, and electric arc based solution the propellant is a different thing than the fuel. The fuel would be the nuclear material of the nuclear reactor.

In the simplest possible nuclear power solutions for the rocket motors the NERVA (Nuclear Energy Rocket Vehicle Application), the nuclear reactor is in the rocket motor, which replaces the combustion. The liquid hydrogen, what will be pumped through the combustion chamber will also decrease the temperature of the nuclear elements.

And the heat of the nuclear reactor would make the same thing what burn makes in the combustion chamber.  The idea is that those electric rockets can load their batteries by using solar panels or some else method, like connecting it to the power lines.

The thing is that that kind of systems can be very autonomous. And if there is enough time, that kind of rockets would be able to operate from another planet, and maybe this kind of systems would bring the first samples from the planets like Mars and Venus.