A private company is working with the American space agency NASA to develop a new rocket that could greatly reduce space travel times.

一家私人公司正在与美国国家航空航天局（NASA）合作开发一种新型火箭，这种火箭可以大大减少太空旅行时间。

The engine for such a rocket will be designed to sharply increase the amount of thrust to speed up space travel and improve rocket efficiency.

这种火箭的发动机将大幅增加推力，以加速太空旅行并提高火箭效率。

Thrust is the force that pushes a spacecraft through the air. It is produced by a propulsion system.

推力是推动航天器穿越空气的力。它由推进系统产生。

Generally, a gas or liquid fuel is burned to produce thrust from the back of a spacecraft to propel it forward at high-speed.

一般来说，气体或液体燃料燃烧之后在航天器的后部产生推力，以高速推动它向前。

The new design, called Pulsed Plasma Rocket (PPR), is being developed by Arizona-based company Howe Industries.

这种新的设计，被称为脉冲等离子体火箭（PPR），是由总部位于亚利桑那州的豪伊工业公司正在开发的。

The company is currently in the early stages of studying the technology before building working engine models.

该公司目前处于研究这项技术的早期阶段，然后才会建造工作引擎模型。

In a recent statement, Howe Industries said such rocket technology will be needed to support NASA's plans to return humans to the moon and after that, possibly Mars.

在最近的一份声明中，豪伊工业公司表示，将需要这种火箭技术来支持美国国家航空航天局（NASA）让人类重返月球的计划，以及在此之后可能的火星计划。

The space agency has also set a goal to build a long-term base in space.

航天局还设定了一个目标，即在太空中建造一个长期基地。

But one barrier to all these plans is the long travel times necessary with current spacecraft systems.

但是，所有这些计划的一个障碍是，目前的航天器系统的所需旅行时间很长。

NASA estimates the moon sits an average of about 382,500 kilometers from Earth.

美国国家航空航天局估计月球平均距离地球约382,500公里。

The exact distance changes because of the moon's orbit around Earth.

因为确切距离会随着月球绕地球轨道而发生变化。

The average distance from Earth to Mars is 225 million kilometers.

地球到火星的平均距离是2.25亿公里。

NASA says a trip to Mars with existing spacecraft would take at least 200 days each way.

美国国家航空航天局（NASA）表示，使用现有的航天器前往火星，单程至少需要200天。

Developers of the proposed Pulsed Plasma Rocket have said it could reduce travel time to the Red Planet to about two months each way.

提议的脉冲等离子体火箭的开发者表示，它可以将前往红色星球的旅行时间减少到大约两个月的往返时间。

Howe Industries said its new design gives the rocket the ability to reach extremely high speeds to complete "reasonable" space travel times.

豪伊工业公司表示，其新设计赋予火箭极快的速度，以完成“合理”的太空旅行时间。

The development team estimates its PPR system could produce up to 100,000 N of thrust.

开发团队估计其PPR系统可以产生高达100,000牛顿的推力。

The N at the end of the number stands for Newtons, a unit of measurement for thrust.

数字末尾的“N”代表牛顿，是推力的测量单位。

NASA has described its Space Launch System (SLS) as the most powerful ever built.

美国国家航空航天局（NASA）将其太空发射系统（SLS）描述为有史以来最强大的系统。

The agency has said the SLS rocket system is expected to provide nearly 53 N of thrust during space travel.

该机构表示，SLS火箭系统预计将在太空旅行期间提供近53牛顿的推力。

Developers of PPR say that in addition to a huge increase in thrust, the new design also provides a "specific impulse" rate of 5,000.

PPR的开发者表示，除了推力大幅增加外，新设计还提供了5000的“比冲”率。

Specific impulse is a method for measuring – in seconds –thrust and efficiency levels of rocket engines.

比冲是一种以秒为单位测量火箭发动机推力和效率水平的方法。

The higher this rate is, the more efficient the rocket system is.

这个比率越高，火箭系统的效率就越高。

By comparison, the SLS rocket has specific impulse rates below 500.

相比之下，SLS火箭的比冲率低于500。

Officials at Howe have said the PPR is based on another plasma-based technology known as pulsed fission fusion.

豪伊公司的官员说，PPR是基于另一种称为脉冲裂变聚变的等离子体技术。

NASA says this process involves quickly pressing plasmas into high pressures to produce thrust.

美国国家航空航天局表示，这一过程包括快速将等离子体压缩到高压以产生推力。

But the developers say the PPR system is smaller, simpler and costs less to operate.

但是，开发商表示，PPR系统体积更小、更简单，运营成本更低。

Howe's statement introducing the technology said the combination of extremely high thrust and higher specific impulse rate "holds the potential to revolutionize space exploration."

豪伊在一次声明中介绍了这项技术，称极高的推力和更高的比冲率的结合“有潜力彻底改变太空探索”。

The team said such a system should be able to propel much heavier spacecraft and support much longer trips to more distant areas of space.

该团队表示，这样的系统应该能够推动更重的航天器，并支持更长时间的太空旅行，到达更远的区域。

The planned system could also make it easier for spacecraft to be equipped with heavy shields to protect traveling astronauts from Galactic Cosmic Rays.

该计划中的系统还可以使航天器更容易配备重型屏蔽，以保护旅行中的宇航员免受银河宇宙射线的伤害。

These are highly energetic particles that move through space at nearly the speed of light.

这些是高能量粒子，它们以接近光速的速度在太空中移动。

The rays can be harmful to humans in large amounts.

这些射线大量存在时可能对人类有害。

The PPR project is one in a series of NASA development projects that recently received additional financial assistance to keep running.

PPR项目是美国国家航空航天局一系列开发项目中的一个，该项目最近获得了额外的财政援助以继续运行。

The projects are part of a NASA program called Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC). PPR is currently in Phase I of development.

这些项目是美国国家航空航天局（NASA）一个名为“创新先进概念”（NIAC）的计划的一部分。PPR目前处于开发的第一阶段。

The team said if chosen by NASA to continue with Phase II, it will be centered on improving the performance of the proposed engine, as well as carrying out experiments on major engine systems.

该团队表示，如果被美国国家航空航天局选中继续进行第二阶段，其工作重点将是提高拟议发动机的性能，以及对主要发动机系统进行实验。

The last phase will involve completing a spaceship design for carrying humans to Mars.

最后阶段将包括完成一艘用于将人类送上火星的宇宙飞船设计。

I'm Bryan Lynn.

布莱恩·林恩为您播报。