, whom fans of commercial space will immediately recognize as the President and Chief Operations Officer of SpaceX, and a member of their Board of Directors.
Simply put, there’s no way long-distance missions can be done in a reasonable amount of time using chemical propulsion. For that to happen, says Dr. White, we need to think beyond the realm of known physics. To that end, he and his colleagues have adopted a research plan based on three broad categories of theoretical propulsion, each one more advanced than the last.
This is where the next step in LSI’s comes into play , which calls for the development of fusion electric propulsion – which is in the 50 to 500 MW range. As Dr. White described it: Basically, we need a Theory of Everything , which has eluded scientists for about a century. This is why Dr. White and LSI are taking an incremental approach that includes future innovations and discoveries. These may be coming sooner than expected, said Dr. White, due to the introduction of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced computing. In the meantime, there’s plenty of research to be done that’s within the realm of known physics.With Limitless Space, Dr.