SpaceX proposed trip to Mars and some basic math.

This is an article from Foxnews today.

[link to www.foxnews.com]

SpaceX is betting on E-Sail technology to propel future spacecraft to Mars and beyond. Technology linked below.

[link to www.nasa.gov (secure)]

I was wondering how we were going to get to Mars in 30 days according to the article and what technology was going to be employed.

So a few numbers first:

Mean miles to Mars from Earth: 140,000,000
Light speed (LS) @ MPH: 670,616,629
LS converted to MPD (day) 16,094,799,105
(0.03)LSMPD to reach Mars in 30 days: 536,493,303
LSMPD converted to LSMPH for 30 days to Mars: 22,353,887

If my math is basically correct and if this E-Sail can be produced into a real world device.

I have a few questions that I am not fully understanding concerning the trip to Mars.

#1: The closer we are to the sun the greater the force can be applied to the E-sail via photon repulsion. I wonder how long it takes to achieve .03 LS (mean) using this technology. And this is based off and average solar wind speed.

#2: Suppose you zooming along at 22,353,887 MPH and you hit a very small space rock (micro-meteor). For a comparison we can understand, a .50 cal Muzzle Velocity is 1909 MPH (2800 fps), that's 0.00008539901 of the projected mean speed of the spacecraft. My guess is "if" you run into ANYTHING however so small at that speed your craft will be instantly vaporized.

#3: Unless I am missing something, and I might be. It looks that the E-sail is only good for a one-way trip. I don't think it can "swim up stream" against the solar wind. So then it looks as if storing massive fuel tanks for return trips would be the only way back home.

Just a few ideas this morning....