DOCSLIB.ORG

Principium, Issue 30, Pp. 20–25

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Principium, Issue 30, Pp. 20–25 PRINCIPIUM The Initiative and Institute for Interstellar Studies Issue 30 | August 2020 ISSN 2397-9127 www.i4is.org R O F E V I T A I T I N I S T U D I E S Scientia ad sidera Knowledge to the stars ■ Worldship Implications of the BIS SPACE Project ■ 2020 ISU MSS Elective Module ■ i4is-supported ISU MSS Projects - Bussard Ramjet & Deceleration of Interstellar Probes ■ 71st IAC 2020 Timetable of Interstellar Papers ■ Cassidy Cobbs - Bioscientist - Part 2 ■ Interstellar News ■ The Cathedral and the Starship ■ FISW2 videos and presentations ■ Educating i4is: the i4is Education Team ■ Alfred M Worden - A personal reflection Principium | Issue 30 | August 2020 1 Arising from a conversation at the ISU Elective, we have a letter to the editor, India in Space, from Editorial ISU student, Pranjal Samarth, which tells us about the rising space endeavour in his country and his Welcome to issue 30 of Principium, the quarterly suggestion that it may be best-placed to design and about all things interstellar from i4is, the Initiative build the first interstellar probe. and Institute for Interstellar Studies. This is our biggest ever issue, 96 pages. We hope you'll And, as promised last time, we celebrate the life of forgive the omission of some items promised last a great American, Alfred M Worden (1932-2020) A time! personal reflection by John Davies. As the Scots sing "When will we see your like again?" Our lead feature this time is Implications for an Interstellar Worldship in findings from the BIS The full list is in the Contents page following this SPACE Project by one of the BIS project team editorial. Richard Soilleux. In our next issue, P31 November 2020, we will Our front cover image is a worldship fleet have a review of Extraterrestrial Languages by envisaged by Michel Lamontagne and the back Daniel Oberhaus postponed from this issue and cover image is an earth-rise from the NASA Lunar more from our ISU elective. We'll have a report on Reconnaissance Orbiter. Much more about both i4is participation in the Starshot Communications inside the back cover. Workshop and an introductory piece on the tough job of getting data and pictures back from light years We have reports of i4is-supported activities at the away, The Interstellar Downlink. International Space University : ■ The two-week elective module, Interstellar If you have any comments on Principium, i4is or Studies (with video access for our members) - interstellar topics more generally, we’d love to hear there will be more in our next issue. from you! ■ Two MSS Projects - Bussard Ramjet & John I Davies, Editor, [email protected] Deceleration of Interstellar Probes. Patrick J Mahon, Editor, [email protected] We have a summary of the Interstellar Papers announced for the 71st International Astronautical Congress in October. It's a "Cyberspace Edition" open to all and this is a unique opportunity to Membership of i4is see and hear the leading figures in the field at no Please support us through membership of i4is. Join cost. We have part two of our interview with one the interstellar community and help to reach the stars! of our activists, Cassidy Cobbs - Bioscientist. Privileges for members and discounts for students, We introduce an intriguing new paper by our seniors and BIS members - details page 63. More at i4is. Executive Director, Dr Andreas Hein, The org/membership. Cathedral and the Starship and announce Please print and display our posters - in this issue our the videos and presentations from the second general poster on page 81 (black background) the student posters on pages 26 (black) and 62 (white). Foundations of Interstellar Studies (FISW2) - also available to our members. Rob Swinney, our All our poster variants at - Education Director introduces Educating i4is: i4is.org/i4is-membership-posters-and-video the i4is Education Team. We have eight pages of Interstellar News. Keep in touch! Join the conversation by following i4is on our Facebook For Members of i4is page www.facebook.com/InterstellarInstitute. Become part of our professional network on LinkedIn Members have access to - www.linkedin.com/groups/4640147. Networking - i4is.org/members/networking- Follow us on Twitter at @I4Interstellar. opportunities And seek out our followers too! Contact us on email via [email protected]. Principium preprints- i4is.org/members/preprints Back issues of Principium, from number one, can be Videos - i4is.org/videos found at www.i4is.org/Principium. More in The i4is Members Page - page 60 The views of our writers are their own. We aim for sound science but not editorial orthodoxy. Principium | Issue 30 | August 2020 2 Contents Alfred M Worden (1932-2020) - a personal reflection 4 Implications for an Interstellar Worldship in findings from the BIS SPACE Project 5 Richard Soilleux News Feature: i4is-supported ISU MSS Projects - Bussard Ramjet and Deceleration of 20 Interstellar Probes by Patrick Mahon Student poster black 26 71st International Astronautical Congress 2020 - Timetable of Interstellar Papers 27 Cassidy Cobbs - Bioscientist - Part 2 interviewed by Robert Kennedy and John Davies 41 LETTER TO THE EDITOR: India in Space From: Pranjal Samarth 51 Interstellar News 52 Z-pinch fusion - sheared-flow stabilization, Toroidal Solar Sail with emitting coating, 52 BIS Project Orbital Ring BIS West Midlands Interstellar Presentation 53 Recent Interstellar Papers in JBIS 54 Tying the Celestial Reference Frame Directly to Black Hole Event Horizons, Was 55 Oumuamua made of molecular hydrogen ice?, Exobodies in Our Back Yard Asteroid mining with small spacecraft - a "filling station" beyond our gravity well, 56 Inverse design for efficient lightsail propulsion, Limitless Space Institute student competition, LightSail 2 continues Relaying Swarms of Low-Mass Interstellar Probes, Near Term Self-replicating 57 Probes, Manoeuvring using magnetic sails in the solar wind Project Lyra: Laser and Fission Probes 58 i4is and Amateur Astronomy 59 The i4is Members Page 60 Student poster white 62 Become an i4is member - Patrick J Mahon 63 News Feature: The Cathedral and the Starship: Learning from the Middle Ages for 64 Future Long-Duration Projects - John I Davies News feature: FISW2 videos and presentations on the i4is website 66 Educating i4is: the i4is Education Team - What we do and who we are - Rob Swinney 71 The Stars: Humanity’s Destination - the evolution of FTL thinking - Gary L Bennett 75 General poster black 81 News Feature: The 2020 ISU Masters Elective Module - Part 1 of 2 82 John I Davies NEXT ISSUE 94 Cover Images 95 Principium | Issue 30 | August 2020 3 Alfred M Worden (1932-2020) A personal reflection by John Davies In 2020 we marked the passing of Al Worden, Apollo 15 command module pilot. Principium Editor John Davies met him just twice and only briefly on both occasions but he left a strong impression. Here he presents a personal reflection on Colonel Alfred Merrill Worden, US Air Force retired, 1932-2020. I missed the first Moon landing. The date was announced after I and three friends had agreed a holiday in Yugoslavia. We had arranged to borrow a VW camper van from a mutual friend, booked a ferry and arranged two weeks off with our bosses. We had seen the "flyby" of Apollo 8 and the almost "touch and go" of Apollo 10 so we talked about cancelling for the Moon landing but decided to go. Three of us were spacecraft engineers at Hawker Siddeley Dynamics in Stevenage, UK, and, frankly, we were rather immature and a little blasé about the whole thing. As a result we were camping in our reserve tent by the Adriatic, having blown the engine of the VW on the Grossglockner pass over the Alps. All we saw was the flickering of a black and white portable television outside the palatial caravan of some fellow campers. We came home by train and the VW came back on the annual autumn "wreck train" months later. I think the owner forgave us. So when i4is co-founders, Kelvin Long and Rob Swinney, told us that the i4is HQ would be opened by Al Worden the name rang a bell but I had to look him up. His presence was organised by Vix Southgate (who space advocates in the UK and beyond will know well) and, on the appointed day, 8 October 2017, she drove him to our rather remote HQ where he gave us an account of his mission and his vision for the future in space. I exchanged just a few words with him but I was left with a strong impression. This was a man both proud of what he had done and modest in his manner. There is a full account of the occasion in Principium, Issue 19, November 2017 - ‘The Interstellar Space’ Opening of i4is HQ, 8 October 2017. I met him again and had five minutes conversation with him at the New Scientist Live exhibition a week or two later. Again I felt I had met a man who was a gentleman in the broad sense - civilised, modest but having done something he was very proud of. He chatted to a couple of us, smoking a cigarette outside the restaurant where he was having dinner with the rest of the BIS team. He joked "My doctor tells me these things are killing me but at my age I don't see what difference it makes".As it turned out he had a "good innings" by any standards and "died in harness", more or less, not fading away. I last saw him, again courtesy of the BIS, at the Royal Institution, where he was a speaker in a debate, reported in Principium News Feature - Debate: Moon, Mars and Beyond at the Royal Institution (P22, August 2018).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Nasa Tm X-1864 *
    NASA TECHNICAL. • £HP2fKit NASA TM X-1864 * ... MEMORANDUM oo fe *' > ;ff f- •* '• . ;.*• f PROPULSION • FOR *MANN1D E30PLORATION-k '* *Of THE SOEAE " • » £ Moedkel • - " *' ' ' y Lem$ Research Center Cleveland, Qbt® NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SFACE ADMINISTRATION • WASHINGTON, D. €, * AUCUST 1969 NASA TM X-1864 PROPULSION SYSTEMS FOR MANNED EXPLORATION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM By W. E. Moeckel Lewis Research Center Cleveland, Ohio NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION For sale by the Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and. Technical Information Springfield, Virginia 22151 - CFSTI price $3.00 ABSTRACT What propulsion systems are in sight for fast interplanetary travel? Only a few show promise of reducing trip times to values comparable to those of 16th century terrestrial expeditions. The first portion of this report relates planetary round-trip times to the performance parameters of two types of propulsion systems: type I is specific-impulse limited (with high thrust), and type n is specific-mass limited (with low thrust). The second part of the report discusses advanced propulsion concepts of both types and evaluates their limitations. The discussion includes nuclear-fission . rockets (solid, liquid, and gaseous core), nuclear-pulse propulsion, nuclear-electric rockets, and thermonuclear-fusion rockets. Particular attention is given to the last of these, because it is less familiar than the others. A general conclusion is that the more advanced systems, if they prove feasible, will reduce trip time to the near planets by factors of 3 to 5, and will make several outer planets accessible to manned exploration. PROPULSION SYSTEMS FOR MANNED EXPLORATION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM* byW. E. Moeckel Lewis Research Center SUMMARY What propulsion systems are in sight for fast interplanetary travel? Only a few show promise of reducing trip times to values comparable to those of 16th century terrestrial expeditions.
    [Show full text]
  • The Space Launch System for Exploration and Science. K
    45th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2014) 2234.pdf THE SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM FOR EXPLORATION AND SCIENCE. K. Klaus1, M. S. Elsperman1, B. B. Donahue1, K. E. Post1, M. L. Raftery1, and D. B. Smith1, 1The Boeing Company, 13100 Space Center Blvd, Houston TX 77059, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], mi- [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. Introduction: The Space Launch System (SLS) is same time which will simplify mission design and re- the most powerful rocket ever built and provides a duce launch costs. One of the key features of the SLS critical heavy-lift launch capability enabling diverse in cislunar space is performance to provide “dual-use”, deep space missions. This exploration class vehicle i.e. Orion plus 15t of any other payload. launches larger payloads farther in our solar system An opportunity exists to deliver payload to the lu- and faster than ever before. Available fairing diameters nar surface or lunar orbit on the unmanned 2017 range from 5 m to 10 m; these allow utilization of ex- MPCV/ SLS test flight (~4.5t of mass margin exists for isting systems which reduces development risks, size this flight). Concepts of this nature can be done for limitations and cost. SLS injection capacity shortens less than Discovery class mission budgets (~$450M) mission travel time. Enhanced capabilities enable a and may be done as a joint venture by the NASA Sci- variety of missions including human exploration, plan- ence Mission Directorate and Human Exploration Op- etary science, astrophysics, heliophysics, planetary erations Mission Directorate using the successful Lu- defense, Earth observaton and commercial space en- nar Reconnaissance Orbiter as a program model.
    [Show full text]
  • Pulsed Fusion Space Propulsion: Computational Ideal Magneto-Hydro Dynamics of a Magnetic Flux Compression Reaction Chamber
    Pulsed Fusion Space Propulsion: Computational Ideal Magneto-Hydro Dynamics of a Magnetic Flux Compression Reaction Chamber G. Romanelli Master of Science Thesis Space Systems Engineering PULSED FUSION SPACE PROPULSION: COMPUTATIONAL IDEAL MAGNETO-HYDRO DYNAMICS OFA MAGNETIC FLUX COMPRESSION REACTION CHAMBER by Gherardo ROMANELLI to obtain the degree of Master of Science at the Delft University of Technology, to be defended publicly on Friday February 26, 2016 at 10:00 AM. Student number: 4299876 Thesis committee: Dr. A. Cervone, TU Delft, supervisor Prof. Dr. E. K. A. Gill, TU Delft Dr. Ir. E. Mooij, TU Delft Prof. A. Mignone, Politecnico di Torino An electronic version of this thesis is available at http://repository.tudelft.nl/. To boldly go where no one has gone before. James T. Kirk ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. A. Cervone who has always sup- ported me despite my “quite exotic” interests. He left me completely autonomous in shaping my thesis project, and still, was always there every time I needed help. Then, I would of course like to thank Prof. A. Mignone who decided to give his contribute to this seemingly crazy project of mine. His advice arrived just in time to give an happy ending to this story. Il ringraziamento più grande, però, va di certo alla mia famiglia. Alla mia mamma e a mio babbo, perché hanno sempre avuto fiducia in me e non hanno mai chiesto ragioni o spiegazioni alle mie scelte. Ai miei nonni, perché se di punto in bianco, un giorno di novembre ho deciso di intraprendere questa lunga strada verso l’Olanda, l’ho potuto fare anche per merito loro.
    [Show full text]
  • Breakthrough Propulsion Study Assessing Interstellar Flight Challenges and Prospects
    Breakthrough Propulsion Study Assessing Interstellar Flight Challenges and Prospects NASA Grant No. NNX17AE81G First Year Report Prepared by: Marc G. Millis, Jeff Greason, Rhonda Stevenson Tau Zero Foundation Business Office: 1053 East Third Avenue Broomfield, CO 80020 Prepared for: NASA Headquarters, Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) and NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Washington, DC 20546 June 2018 Millis 2018 Grant NNX17AE81G_for_CR.docx pg 1 of 69 ABSTRACT Progress toward developing an evaluation process for interstellar propulsion and power options is described. The goal is to contrast the challenges, mission choices, and emerging prospects for propulsion and power, to identify which prospects might be more advantageous and under what circumstances, and to identify which technology details might have greater impacts. Unlike prior studies, the infrastructure expenses and prospects for breakthrough advances are included. This first year's focus is on determining the key questions to enable the analysis. Accordingly, a work breakdown structure to organize the information and associated list of variables is offered. A flow diagram of the basic analysis is presented, as well as more detailed methods to convert the performance measures of disparate propulsion methods into common measures of energy, mass, time, and power. Other methods for equitable comparisons include evaluating the prospects under the same assumptions of payload, mission trajectory, and available energy. Missions are divided into three eras of readiness (precursors, era of infrastructure, and era of breakthroughs) as a first step before proceeding to include comparisons of technology advancement rates. Final evaluation "figures of merit" are offered. Preliminary lists of mission architectures and propulsion prospects are provided.
    [Show full text]
  • Theory of Space Magnetic Sail Some Common Mistakes and Electrostatic Magsail
    1 Article MagSail after Cath for J 10 1 6 06 AIAA -2006 -8148 Theory of Space Magnetic Sail Some Common Mistakes and Electrostatic MagSail * Alexander Bolonkin C&R, 1310 Avenue R, #F -6, Brooklyn, NY 11229, USA T/F 718 -339 -4563, [email protected], http://Bolonki n.narod.ru Abstract The first reports on the “Space Magnetic Sail” concept appeared more 30 years ago. During the period since some hundreds of research and scientific works have been published, including hundreds of research report by professors at major famous universities. The author herein shows that all these works related to Space Magnetic Sail concept are technically incorrect because their authors did not take into consideration that solar wind impinging a MagSail magnetic field creates a particle m agnetic field opposed to the MagSail field. In the incorrect works, the particle magnetic field is hundreds times stronger than a MagSail magnetic field. That means all the laborious and costly computations in revealed in such technology discussions are us eless: the impractical findings on sail thrust (drag), time of flight within the Solar System and speed of interstellar trips are essentially worthless working data! The author reveals the correct equations for any estimated performance of a Magnetic Sail as well as a new type of Magnetic Sail (without a matter ring). Key words: magnetic sail, theory of MagSail, space magnetic sail, Electrostatic MagSail *Presented to 14th AIAA/AHI Space Planes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies Conference , 6 - 9 Nov 2006 National Convention Centre, Canberra, Australia. Introduction The idea of utilizing the magnetic field to aggregate matter in space, harnessing a drag from solar wind or receiving a thrust from an Earth - charged particle beam is old.
    [Show full text]
  • 9.0 BACKGROUND “What Do I Do First?” You Need to Research a Card (Thruster Or 9.1 DESIGNER’S NOTES Robonaut) with a Low Fuel Consumption
    9.2 TIPS FOR INEXPERIENCED ROCKET CADETS 9.0 BACKGROUND “What do I do first?” You need to research a card (thruster or 9.1 DESIGNER’S NOTES robonaut) with a low fuel consumption. A “1” is great, a “4” The original concept for this game was a “Lords of the Sierra Madre” in is marginal. The PRC player*** can consider an dash to space. With mines, ranches, smelters, and rail lines all purchased and claim Hellas Basin on Mars, using just his crew card. He controlled by different players, who have to negotiate between them- needs 19 fuel steps (6 WT) along the red route to do this. selves to expand. But space does not work this way. “What does my rocket need?” Your rocket needs 4 things: Suppose you have a smelter on one main-belt asteroid, powered by a • A card with a thruster triangle (2.4D) to act as a thruster. • A card with an ISRU rating, if its mission is to prospect. beam-station on another asteroid, and you discover platinum on a third • A refinery, if its mission is to build a factory. nearby asteroid. Unfortunately for long-term operations, next year these • Enough fuel to get to the destination. asteroids will be separated by 2 to 6 AUs.* Furthermore, main belt Decide between a small rocket able to make multiple claims, Hohmann transfers are about 2 years long, with optimal transfer opportu- or a big rocket including a refinery and robonaut able to nities about 7 years apart. Jerry Pournelle in his book “A Step Farther industrialize the first successful claim.
    [Show full text]
  • E-Sail for Fast Interplanetary Travel. M
    Planetary Science Vision 2050 Workshop 2017 (LPI Contrib. No. 1989) 8056.pdf E-SAIL FOR FAST INTERPLANETARY TRAVEL. M. Aru1, P. Janhunen2, 1University of Tartu, Estonia, 2Finnish Meteorological Institute, Finland Introduction: Propulsion is a significant factor for areas of scientific research and new types of missions our access to the Solar System and the time con- could be imagined and created, improving our unders- sumption of the missions. We propose to use the elect- tanding of the Solar System. ric solar wind sail (E-sail), which can provide remar- Manned presence on Mars. A spacecraft equipped kable low thrust propulsion without needing propellant with a large E-sail, that provides 1 N of thrust at 1 au [1, 2]. from Sun, can travel from Earth to the asteroid belt in a The E-sail is a propellantless propulsion concept year. One such spacecraft can bring back three tonnes that uses centrifugally stretched, charged tethers to of water in three years, and repeat the journey multiple extract momentum from the solar wind to produce times within its estimated lifetime of at least ten years thrust. Over periods of months, this small but conti- [9, 12]. The water can be converted to synthetic cryo- nuous thrust can accelerate the spacecraft to great genic rocket fuel in orbital fuelling stations where speeds of approximately 20 to 30 au/year. For examp- manned vehicles travelling between Earth and Mars le, distances of 100 au could be reached in <10 years, can be fuelled. This dramatically reduces the overall which is groundbreaking [1]. mission fuel ratio at launch, and opens up possibilities The principles of operation: A full-scale E-sail for affordable continuous manned presence on Mars includes up to 100 thin, many kilometers long tethers, [13].
    [Show full text]
  • Deuterium – Tritium Pulse Propulsion with Hydrogen As Propellant and the Entire Space-Craft As a Gigavolt Capacitor for Ignition
    Deuterium – Tritium pulse propulsion with hydrogen as propellant and the entire space-craft as a gigavolt capacitor for ignition. By F. Winterberg University of Nevada, Reno Abstract A deuterium-tritium (DT) nuclear pulse propulsion concept for fast interplanetary transport is proposed utilizing almost all the energy for thrust and without the need for a large radiator: 1. By letting the thermonuclear micro-explosion take place in the center of a liquid hydrogen sphere with the radius of the sphere large enough to slow down and absorb the neutrons of the DT fusion reaction, heating the hydrogen to a fully ionized plasma at a temperature of ~ 105 K. 2. By using the entire spacecraft as a magnetically insulated gigavolt capacitor, igniting the DT micro-explosion with an intense GeV ion beam discharging the gigavolt capacitor, possible if the space craft has the topology of a torus. 1. Introduction The idea to use the 80% of the neutron energy released in the DT fusion reaction for nuclear micro-bomb rocket propulsion, by surrounding the micro-explosion with a thick layer of liquid hydrogen heated up to 105 K thereby becoming part of the exhaust, was first proposed by the author in 1971 [1]. Unlike the Orion pusher plate concept, the fire ball of the fully ionized hydrogen plasma can here be reflected by a magnetic mirror. The 80% of the energy released into 14MeV neutrons cannot be reflected by a magnetic mirror for thermonuclear micro-bomb propulsion. This was the reason why for the Project Daedalus interstellar probe study of the British Interplanetary Society [2], the neutron poor deuterium-helium 3 (DHe3) reaction was chosen.
    [Show full text]
  • Stable Orbits of Rigid, Rotating, Precessing, Massive Rings
    Stable Orbits of Rigid, Rotating, Precessing, Massive Rings Edward D. Rippert Whitehawk Systems, 3 Whitehawk Circle, Boise, ID, 83716, USA. [email protected] The dynamics of a rigid, rotating, precessing, massive ring orbiting a point mass within the perimeter of the ring are considered. It is demonstrated that orbits dynamically stable against perturbations in three dimensions exist for a range of rigid body rotation parameters of the ring. Previous analysis and some well-known works of fiction have considered the stability of both rigid and flexible, non-precessing ring systems and found that they are unstable in the plane of the ring unless an active stabilization system is employed. There does not appear to be any analyses previously published considering rigid body precession of such a system or that demonstrate passive stability in three dimensions. Deviations from perfect rigidity and possible applications of such a system are discussed. Keywords: Orbital Ring, Ring World, Stability, Precession, Magic Angle I. Introduction Solid rings rotating about a central mass have been considered for various applications ranging from a ring of geosynchronous satellites around the Earth [1] (Polyakov-Ring) to fictional accounts of a gigantic artificial habitat around a star rotating to provide artificial gravity [2] (Niven-Ring). A Polyakov-Ring rotates at or slightly above the orbital speed at its distance from the central mass. As such it lacks significant tension on the ring and is a flexible structure. It has been shown that such a structure is unstable against perturbations in the plane of the ring but can be stabilized by a feedback control system controlling the local length of ring segments [3].
    [Show full text]
  • IAF Space Propulsion Symposium 2019
    IAF Space Propulsion Symposium 2019 Held at the 70th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2019) Washington, DC, USA 21 -25 October 2019 Volume 1 of 2 ISBN: 978-1-7138-1491-7 Printed from e-media with permission by: Curran Associates, Inc. 57 Morehouse Lane Red Hook, NY 12571 Some format issues inherent in the e-media version may also appear in this print version. Copyright© (2019) by International Astronautical Federation All rights reserved. Printed with permission by Curran Associates, Inc. (2020) For permission requests, please contact International Astronautical Federation at the address below. International Astronautical Federation 100 Avenue de Suffren 75015 Paris France Phone: +33 1 45 67 42 60 Fax: +33 1 42 73 21 20 www.iafastro.org Additional copies of this publication are available from: Curran Associates, Inc. 57 Morehouse Lane Red Hook, NY 12571 USA Phone: 845-758-0400 Fax: 845-758-2633 Email: [email protected] Web: www.proceedings.com TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME 1 PROPULSION SYSTEM (1) BLUE WHALE 1: A NEW DESIGN APPROACH FOR TURBOPUMPS AND FEED SYSTEM ELEMENTS ON SOUTH KOREAN MICRO LAUNCHERS ............................................................................ 1 Dongyoon Shin KEYNOTE: PROMETHEUS: PRECURSOR OF LOW-COST ROCKET ENGINE ......................................... 2 Jérôme Breteau ASSESSMENT OF MON-25/MMH PROPELLANT SYSTEM FOR DEEP-SPACE ENGINES ...................... 3 Huu Trinh 60 YEARS DLR LAMPOLDSHAUSEN – THE EUROPEAN RESEARCH AND TEST SITE FOR CHEMICAL SPACE PROPULSION SYSTEMS ....................................................................................... 9 Anja Frank, Marius Wilhelm, Stefan Schlechtriem FIRING TESTS OF LE-9 DEVELOPMENT ENGINE FOR H3 LAUNCH VEHICLE ................................... 24 Takenori Maeda, Takashi Tamura, Tadaoki Onga, Teiu Kobayashi, Koichi Okita DEVELOPMENT STATUS OF BOOSTER STAGE LIQUID ROCKET ENGINE OF KSLV-II PROGRAM .......................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Interstellar Travel and the Fermi Paradox
    Interstellar Travel If aliens haven’t visited us, could we go to them? In this lecture we will have some fun speculating about future interstellar travel by humans. Please keep in mind that, as we discussed earlier, this cannot be considered a solution for the problems that we have on Earth, for the simple reason that the expense per person is utterly prohibitive and will remain so in any conceivable future scenario. Nonetheless, given enough time it could be that we have the capacity to move out into the galaxy. Incidentally, we will leave discussions of really far-out concepts such as wormholes to a future class. Interstellar distances The major barrier to interstellar travel is the staggering distance between stars. The closest one to the Sun is Proxima Centauri, which is 4.3 light years away but not a likely host to planets. There are, however, a few possibilities within roughly 10 light years, so that is a good target. How far is 10 light years? By definition it is how far light travels in 10 years, but let’s put this into a more familiar context. A moderately brisk walking pace is 5 km/hr, and since one light year is about 10 trillion kilometers, you would need about 20 trillion hours, or about 2.3 billion years, to walk that distance. The fastest cars sold commercially go about 400 km/hr, so you would need about three billion hours or a bit less than thirty million years. The speed of the Earth in its orbit, which is comparable to the speed of the fastest spacecraft we have constructed (all unmanned, of course), is about 30 km/s and even at that rate it would take about a hundred thousand years to travel ten light years.
    [Show full text]
  • Exploring Design and Policy Options for Orbital Infrastructure Projects by Lieutenant Junior Grade Benjamin L. Putbrese, U.S. Na
    Exploring Design and Policy Options for Orbital Infrastructure Projects by Lieutenant Junior Grade Benjamin L. Putbrese, U.S. Navy B.S. Aerospace Engineering United States Naval Academy, 2013 Submitted to the Engineering Systems Division in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Technology and Policy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology June 2015 ©2015 Benjamin L. Putbrese. All rights reserved. The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created. Signature of Author: ________________________________________________________________ Engineering Systems Division May 8, 2015 Certified by:_______________________________________________________________________ Daniel E. Hastings Cecil and Ida Green Education Professor of Engineering Systems and Aeronautics and Astronautics Thesis Supervisor Accepted by: _____________________________________________________________________ Dava J. Newman Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems Director, Technology and Policy Program 2 This work is sponsored by the United States Department of Defense under Contract FA8721-05- C-0002. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the United States Government. 3 Exploring Design and Policy Options for Orbital Infrastructure Projects by Lieutenant Junior Grade Benjamin L.
    [Show full text]