It takes 2 minutes to go from Earth to the Moon.

A Canadian engineer has proposed an idea for a space train that could take humans to the Moon in just over two minutes at a speed of 3,000 km/s.

Design of the Solar Express space train. Photo: Solar Express.

According to Forbes, Charles Bombardier, a famous engineer from Montreal, Canada, came up with the idea of ​​designing a futuristic train called Solar Express that can carry goods and passengers between space stations and celestial bodies in the universe.

The train, designed by Bombardier in collaboration with industrial engineer Olivier Péraldi, willuse gravity to travel between planets,maintain the same motion as the ladder pulling the skater up the slope.

The train consists of a series of 50-meter-long cylindrical compartments, each divided into four freight cars that can be relocated by maintenance robots. Bombardier also envisions a large city in space that rotates around the train's axis of motion, with artificial gravity that would allow people to travel and live there if the journey took several months.

The shape and function of each train car can vary. Rest areas are concentrated in the middle of the train, where gravity has less effect. The center also has a zero-gravity zone for experiments.

The train will launch into space using a rocket booster and use reserve fuel to adjust its direction when needed. The speed of the train will depend on its size and purpose, but it can reach a maximum speed of up to 3,000 km/s, equivalent to 1% of the speed of light.

“In space, the most expensive stages of travel are acceleration and deceleration. The energy required to perform these stages is enormous, but when the craft reaches cruising speed, energy consumption is at its lowest,” Bombardier explains.

Not only is the train equipped with reinforced shields on its front and back, it is also escorted by a fleet of drones equipped with missiles and laser guns to destroy any meteorites that threaten to derail it.

Solar energy from panels lined up along the train's route could power lights and other electrical appliances, while water for passengers would come from comets and the moon. "Water could also be used to produce hydrogen and propellant," Bombardier said.

There is no limit to the distance the train can travel. Bombardier plans to make its first trip carrying cargo and passengers from Earth to the Moon. At 3,000 km/s, the Solar Express will reach the Moon in just 2.13 minutes.

"The Moon serves as a launching pad for other projects, as assembling and building such trains would be easier in a place with no gravity. Mars is a likely next stage, especially if humans can colonize the planet," Bombardier said.

According to VNE