RUSSIA has revealed a "spacecraft of the future" that could one day put humans on Mars.

It's powered by nuclear engines, which space agency Roscosmos says could offer a "relatively fast journey" between planets.

3 Russia's concept spacecraft would be powered by nuclear engines

Roscosmos showed off concept designs for the sci-fi spacecraft – but failed to say exactly when it would launch.

The spaceship is currently in development at Russia's Keldysh Research Centre, which is racing to create the nuclear propulsion engine.

"Today, the Keldysh Centre is working on the development of a spacecraft equipped with more powerful engines – a new class of nuclear power units, which do not need either the sunlight or solar batteries for operation," said a spokesperson for Roscosmos.

Nuclear space travel could revolutionise the quest to hop between planets in our solar system.

3 Roscosmos experts say the craft could take humans to Mars in just seven months

Space scientists currently struggle with current methods of propulsion, like chemical propellants or low-power electric engines that rely on solar batteries.

These methods of space travel are slow, which creates problems for astronauts on board the craft.

"A person should not spend more than a year or two in space," said Vladimir Koshlakov, who heads up the Keldysh Centre.

"Nuclear-powered spacecraft will allow a relatively fast journey, and, most importantly, a return flight.

"This technology has special significant for interplanetary flights and reseach of far planets."

How long does it take to get to Mars? It's not that short of a trip... There's an immense distance between Earth and Mars, which means any trip to the red planet will take a very long time

It's also made more complicated by the fact that the distance is constantly changing as the two planets rotate around the sun

The closest that the Earth and Mars would ever be is a distance of 33.9million miles – that's 9,800 times the distance between London and New York

That's really rare though: the more useful distance is the average, which is 140million miles

Scientists on Earth have already launched a whole bunch of spacecraft to (or near) Mars, so we have a rough idea of how long it takes with current technology

Historically, the trip has taken anywhere from 128 to 333 days - admittedly a huge length of time for humans to be on board a cramped spacecraft.

3 Mars is tens of millions of miles away, which means astronauts have to endure tremendous strain over the long journey Credit: Getty - Contributor

According to Russia's TASS news agency, Koshlakov believes that a flight to Mars using a nuclear propulsion engine is "technically feasible in the near future".

The space expert reckons it could take just over half a year for humans to travel to Mars using the nuclear system.

"[The journey] to the Moon will last several days, yes, while a flight to Mars will last about seven or eight months," said Koshlakov, speaking to the Rossiiskaya Gazeta.

Roscosmos has already been testing ground trials for the engine's cooling system, which are believed to have been a success.

And the space agency also has plans to make a prototype of a "megawatt class" nuclear engine, which would be used for "flights into deep space".

Nuclear space travel – how does it work? Here's what you need to know... A nuclear rocket is a popular concept for space travel

The most widely proposed design is a nuclear thermal rocket

This involves taking a fluid like liquid hydrogen

This would then be heated to a very high temperature in a nuclear reactor

It would expand through a rocket nuzzle, creating thrust

This thrust would be able to propel an object (like a spaceship) through space

Although design and testing has taken place, no nuclear thermal rockets have flown to date

Nasa and Russia are both still interested in the technology, however

This isn't the first time Russia has experimented with nuclear technology for space travel.

Between 1970 and 1988, the Soviet Union launched 32 spacecraft with thermoelectric nuclear power reactors on board.

And Russia has been testing nuclear rocket engines since the sixties.

Do you think you'll ever get the chance to visit Mars? Let us know in the comments!

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