DOCSLIB.ORG

“Interstellar Probe” Is a Mission Through the Outer Heliosphere and to the Nearby “Very Local” Interstellar Medium Or VLISM (0.01 Parsecs = ~2,000 AU =~10 Light Days)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
“Interstellar Probe” Is a Mission Through the Outer Heliosphere and to the Nearby “Very Local” Interstellar Medium Or VLISM (0.01 Parsecs = ~2,000 AU =~10 Light Days) Gravity Assist here Interstellar Probe: A New Mission for a New Decade Ralph L. McNutt, Jr. The John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, USA SH32C-01 The Interstellar Probe Mission: Walter E. Washington Convention Center 10:20 AM – 10:32 AM Study Findings and Next Steps I Room: (CC) 207B Wednesday 12 December 2018 Paper 1, 12-minute oral Washington, DC, USA What is “Interstellar Probe”? • “Interstellar Probe” is a mission through the outer heliosphere and to the nearby “Very Local” interstellar medium or VLISM (0.01 parsecs = ~2,000 AU =~10 light days) • Interstellar Probe uses today’s technology to take the first explicit step on the path of interstellar exploration • Interstellar Probe can pave the way, scientifically, technically, and programmatically for longer interstellar journeys that would require future propulsions systems 4 Interstellar Probe: A 58-year(+) Old Idea • 1960: The Space Studies Board “Outer solar system probe: to be aimed away from the Sun…” • 1965: Eugene Parker advocates mission to heliospheric boundary region Deep Space Probe (1965) Jupiter Galactic Probe (1967) • 1977: Voyager-1 launch Pioneer 10/11 (1980) • 1990: The Interstellar Probe (Holzer et al., 1990) • 1999: JPL Study (NASA STDT) • 2001: NIAC Study, APL Voyager (1977) • 2005: Innovative Interstellar Explorer (McNutt et al., 2005) (“Vision Mission”) • 2009: The Interstellar Heliopause Mission (Wimmer-Schweingruber et al., New Horizons (2006) 2009) • 2015: Keck Institute of Space Studies (KISS) Report 5 Two Distinct Questions • What should we do? • The question for a future Science Definition Team or equivalent and the science community overall • What could we do? • The question at hand for this study 6 Current Study • The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory has been tasked by the NASA Heliophysics Division to (re-)study the mission (as of 13 June 2018) • Provide input to help support the next round of “Decadal Surveys” in the United States - Focus on the time frame in the next Heliophysics Decadal: 2023 – 2032: Could we launch a scientifically compelling mission that decade? – technical question but not without science implications 7 The Science Touches Across Disciplines Potential for Target 1: Interstellar Medium expanded and Heliosphere science Target 2: Circum-Solar Dust across all of Disk NASA’s Science Target 3: Kuiper Belt Objects Mission Directorate Target 4: (Possible) Large Trans-Neptunian Planets 8 Critical Trade-Offs Are Not New • Mass: Driven by flyout speed and • Communication: Solid, near-term, payload (P/L) capability tested engineering - S/C range 300-800 kg (New Horizons 478.3 kg) - Ka-band at ~640 bps and more at 140 AU and - P/L ~40-50 kg (New Horizons 30.4 kg) beyond - Thermal Protection System 150-900 kg (PSP - Optical laser comm might achieve ~10 kbps, but 98.9 kg incl structure) requires extreme pointing stability; lifetime needs investigation • Power: GPHS RTG – life efficiency and lifetime for use in vacuo • Trajectory/Propulsion/Launch - Galileo, Cassini, Ulysses Vehicle: Keys for implementation - Voyager (MHW RTG) will last to mid-2020’s - In-depth trajectory analysis including accurate mechanical and rhermal designs together with - Pu-238 production program has turned a corner launch vehicle (LV) providers - Propulsion technology and engineering assessment of what works and what does not 9 Notional Concepts Span 250 kg to 825 kg Pioneer 10/11 to Voyager 1/2 • Voyager • New Horizons • Ulysses • Pioneer 10 825.4 kg 478.3 kg 366.7 kg 251.8 kg Current example for study 10 Mission Concept(s) Speed, speed, speed • Option 1: Unpowered Jupiter Gravity Assist (JGA) - Burn all stages directly after launch - Follow with optimized prograde JGA • Option 2: Active Jupiter Gravity Assist - Take one stage to Jupiter and burn it at optimized perijove - Opposite of orbit insertion maneuver • Option 3: JGA + Oberth Maneuver Near the Sun - Reverse JGA to dump angular momentum - Fall in to the Sun without actually hitting the Sun, maximizing your incoming speed - Burn final stage(s) at (close) perihelion • You need a (REALLY) BIG ROCKET AGU Fall Meeting 2018 - Session SH32C The Interstellar Probe Mission: StuDy FinDings anD Next Steps I - 12 December 2018 11 Pre-Decisional; for planning anD Discussion purposes only Establish common Ground Rules and Thermal Control System for deep-space use of kick stages • Nine stages / motor systems evaluated for functionality and propulsive scenarios across 31 configurations • In progress 12 Space Launch System (SLS) Offers Possibilities – with Upper Stages Option 1: Region of interest 2 2 200 ≤ C3 ≤ 260 km /s 478.3 kg 7 AU/yr 13 Realities of Flight Near the Sun • You can’t “go at nigHt” • At end of Parker Solar Probe (PSP) mission (in seven years) we will be at a periHelion passage of 9.86 Rs - Not close enough! • But PSP may be a patHfinder to solutions - Does not solve the problem st - 1 perihelion at 35.7 Rs on ~6 November 2018 14 Option 3: Shield Estimates (Star 48BV) • Accommodate New Horizons – like Interstellar Probe: mass and layout as a model • Options 1 and 2: Estimate performance • Option 3: Estimate tHermal shield for periHelia of 3 RS, Thermal 4 RS, and 5 RS analysis at - Verify thermal performance 5 Rs - Estimate thermal shield mass ~2200°C to - Estimate system performance 2600°C (hottest) 15 Designing for Different Perihelia: CASTOR 30XL • Option 3 configuration witH Increasing temperature, shield mass à notional New Horizons – like spacecraft and CASTOR 30XL 5 Rs 4 Rs 3 Rs stage witH tHermal shields for 3 RS, 4 RS, and 5 RS perihelia Option 3 engineering studies in progress Estimate is now > 12 AU/yr 16 Summarizing Some Possibilities See poster SH33C-3660 THIS AFTERNOON Community input to an Interstellar Probe concept – Workshop at the Explorers Club 10-12 October in New York City 17 Both Voyagers have now “left the building”… …but the real journey has onlyFrom Dialynas just et al (2017),begun The . bubble-like shape of the heliosphere observed by Voyager and Cassini 18.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 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]
  • 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]
  • Planetary Science with an Interstellar Probe
    EPSC Abstracts Vol. 13, EPSC-DPS2019-262-2, 2019 EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2019 c Author(s) 2019. CC Attribution 4.0 license. Planetary science with an Interstellar Probe Kathleen Mandt, Kirby Runyon, Ralph McNutt, Pontus Brandt, Michael Paul, and Abigail Rymer Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA, ([email protected]) Abstract a) The Heliosphere as a Habitable Astrosphere: Characterize the heliosphere and the The space science community has maintained an interstellar medium to understand other ongoing interest in exploration of interstellar space for astrospheres harboring potentially habitable several decades. In 2016, Congressional language stellar-exoplanetary environments. encouraged NASA to take the enabling steps for an b) Formation and Evolution of Planetary Interstellar scientific probe. In 2018, a study was Systems: Explore the properties of Dwarf initiated targeting 1000 AU within 50 years using Planets, KBO worlds, giant planets, and the current or near-term technology. The ultimate goal of large scale structure of the circum-solar debris this study is to define a mission that would be feasible disk. to launch in the 2030’s, enabling humanity to take the c) Early Evolution of Galaxies: Uncover the first explicit step in to interstellar space scientifically, diffuse extragalactic background light. technically and programmatically. Although the d) Exoplanet Context: Explore the worlds of our primary goal of an Interstellar Probe would be to solar system as exoplanets. understand the heliosphere and the very local interstellar medium (VLISM), a probe designed to exit the solar system and explore interstellar space 1.1 Kuiper Belt Objectives provides a prime opportunity for planetary science.
    [Show full text]
  • Unique Heliophysics Science Opportunities Along the Interstellar Probe Journey up to 1000 AU from the Sun
    EGU21-10504, updated on 02 Oct 2021 https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-10504 EGU General Assembly 2021 © Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Unique heliophysics science opportunities along the Interstellar Probe journey up to 1000 AU from the Sun Elena Provornikova1, Pontus C. Brandt1, Ralph L. McNutt, Jr.1, Robert DeMajistre1, Edmond C. Roelof1, Parisa Mostafavi1, Drew Turner1, Matthew E. Hill1, Jeffrey L. Linsky2, Seth Redfield3, Andre Galli4, Carey Lisse1, Kathleen Mandt1, Abigail Rymer1, and Kirby Runyon1 1Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA 2JILA, University of Colorado and NIST, Boulder, CO, USA 3Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA 4University of Bern, Bern, 3012, Switzerland The Interstellar Probe is a space mission to discover physical interactions shaping globally the boundary of our Sun`s heliosphere and its dynamics and for the first time directly sample the properties of the local interstellar medium (LISM). Interstellar Probe will go through the boundary of the heliosphere to the LISM enabling for the first time to explore the boundary with a dedicated instrumentation, to take the image of the global heliosphere by looking back and explore in-situ the unknown LISM. The pragmatic concept study of such mission with a lifetime 50 years that can be implemented by 2030 was funded by NASA and has been led by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL). The study brought together a diverse community of more than 400 scientists and engineers spanning a wide range of science disciplines across the world. Compelling science questions for the Interstellar Probe mission have been with us for many decades.
    [Show full text]
  • Interstellar Probe to Explore the Sun's Influences Propagating Beyond The
    Interstellar Probe to Explore the Sun’s Influences Propagating Beyond the Heliosphere Parisa Mostafavi�, G. P. Zank�, D. J. McComas�, L. Burgala4, J. Richardson5, G. Webb2, E. Provornikova1, P. Brandt1 1. Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, 2. University of Alabama in Huntsville, 3. Princeton University, 4. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Introduction The heliosphere is controlled by the motion of the Sun through the interstellar space. Although humankind has explored the region of space about the Earth quite extensively, the distant heliosphere beyond the planets remains almost entirely unexplored with only the two Voyager spacecraft, New Horizons, and the early Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft returning the in-situ observations of this most distant region. Moreover, remote observations of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) from the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) at 1 au and Cassini/INCA at 10 au revealed interesting structure related to the interstellar medium. Voyager 1 and 2 crossed the heliopause in 2012 and 2018, respectively, and are both continue to make in-situ measurements of the very local interstellar medium (VLISM; the nearby region of the LISM affected by physical processes associated with the heliosphere) for the first time. Voyager 1 and 2 have identified and partially answered many interesting questions about the outer heliosphere and the VLISM while raising numerous new questions, many of which have profound implications for the detailed structure and properties of the heliosphere and our place in the galaxy. One particularly interesting topic is the influence of the large-scale disturbances and small-scale turbulences generated by the dynamical Sun on the VLISM.
    [Show full text]
  • Enabling a Near-Term Interstellar Probe with the NASA's Space
    Enabling a Near-Term Interstellar Probe with the NASA’s Space Launch System Robert Stough SLS Utilization Manager 0667 SLS LIFT CAPABILITIES Payload to LEO 95 t (209k lbs) 95 t (209k lbs) 105 t (231k lbs) 105 t (231k lbs) 130 t (287k lbs) 130 t (287k lbs) Payload to TLI/Moon > 26 t (57k lbs) > 26 t (57k lbs) 34–37 t (74k–81k lbs) 37–40 t (81k–88k lbs) > 45 t (99k lbs) > 45 t (99k lbs) Payload Volume N/A** 9,030 ft3 (256m3) 10,100 ft3 (286m3)** 18,970 ft3 (537 m3) 10,100 ft3 (286m3)** 34,910 ft3 (988 m3) Low Earth Orbit (LEO) *EUS – SLS Exploration Upper Stage represents a typical 200 km circular orbit at 28.5 degrees inclination Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) is a propulsive maneuver used to set a EUS* spacecraft on a trajectory that will cause it to arrive at the Moon. A spacecraft Core performs TLI to begin a lunar transfer from a low circular parking orbit around Earth. The numbers depicted x2 Booster here indicate the mass capability at the Trans- Lunar Injection point. ** Not including Orion/Service Module volume SLS Block 1 SLS Block 1 SLS Block 1B Crew SLS Block 1B Cargo SLS Block 2 Crew SLS Block 2 Cargo Crew Cargo Maximum Thrust 8.8M lbs 8.8M lbs 8.8M lbs 8.8M-9.8M lbs 11.9M lbs 11.9M lbs 0667 SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM: MORE VOLUME CONCEPTUAL 5m Fairing Science Orion with 8.4m with Missions Science Fairing Science Missions with Large Payload Aperture Telescope 250m3 400m3 400m3 1,200m3 0667 SLS 3RD/4TH STAGES INCREASE C3 PERFORMANCE Spacecraft 4th Stage 3rd Stage SLS EUS & Adapter Note: assumes SLS B1B EUS with addition of a 3rd and/or
    [Show full text]
  • Using the Interstellar Probe to Decipher Exoplanet Signatures of Our Planets from the Very Local Interstellar Medium Pontus C
    - 1 - Using the Interstellar Probe to Decipher Exoplanet Signatures of Our Planets from the Very Local Interstellar Medium Pontus C. Brandt, Ralph McNutt, Michael Paul, Carey Lisse, Kathleen Mandt, Abigail Rymer The Heliophysics Decadal Survey Call for a future launch of the Interstellar Probe that in addition to it primary targets would offer valuable opportunities for exoplanetary research. Two seminal discoveries of the late 20th century fundamentally changed our perception of our home in space: the discovery in 1992 of Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs), beginning with 15760 Albion [1], and the discovery in 1995 of planets beyond the solar system (“exoplanets”) orbiting main sequence stars, beginning with 51 Pegasi b [2]. Following those discoveries, additional thousands of both types pf objects have been identified. The New Horizons flyby of the Pluto system in 2014 [3] afforded us the first close up examination of a “free” KBO (allowing for the fact that Neptune’s large moon Triton, observed from Voyager 2 in 1989 [4], may be a “captured” one) and a second one with the smaller KBO 2014 MU69 planned for the first day of 2019. Exoplanets, by their nature at stellar distances, are not closely accessible with robotic spacecraft, and the ongoing renaissance in our understanding of planetary systems is, therefore limited to remote, astronomical observations. The “Interstellar Probe” into the nearby very local interstellar medium [5] (VLISM; within 0.01 parsec = 2,063 AU from the Sun [6]) has been a mission of significant interest to the heliophysics community for some time [7, 8]. The most recent Heliophysics Decadal Survey calls for the future launch of the first dedicated Interstellar Probe (§10.5.2.7) [9], which would mark a historic milestone on NASA’s journey to the stars and would offer science discoveries of different proportions that will naturally bridge planetary, helio- and astrophysical disciplines by putting our solar system and heliosphere in the context of the increasing number of other exoplanetary systems and astrospheres detected.
    [Show full text]
  • 6 Dec 2019 Is Interstellar Travel to an Exoplanet Possible?
    Physics Education Publication Date Is interstellar travel to an exoplanet possible? Tanmay Singal1 and Ashok K. Singal2 1Department of Physics and Center for Field Theory and Particle Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China. [email protected] 2Astronomy and Astrophysis Division, Physical Research Laboratory Navrangpura, Ahmedabad 380 009, India. [email protected] Submitted on xx-xxx-xxxx Abstract undertake such a voyage, with hopefully a positive outcome? What could be a possible scenario for such an adventure in a near In this article, we examine the possibility of or even distant future? And what could be interstellar travel to reach some exoplanet the reality of UFOs – Unidentified Flying orbiting around a star, beyond our Solar Objects – that get reported in the media system. Such travels have been in the realm from time to time? of science fiction for long. However, in the last 50 years or so, this question has gained further impetus in the mind of a man on the 1 Introduction street, after the interplanetary travel has become a reality. Of course the distances to In the last three decades many thousands of be covered to reach even some of the near- exoplanets, planets that orbit around stars est stars outside the Solar system could be beyond our Solar system, have been dis- arXiv:1308.4869v2 [physics.pop-ph] 6 Dec 2019 hundreds of thousands of time larger than covered. Many of them are in the habit- those encountered within the interplanetary able zone, possibly with some forms of life space. Consequently, the time and energy evolved on a fraction of them, and hope- requirements for such a travel could be fully, the existence of intelligent life on some immensely prohibitive.
    [Show full text]
  • (ISP): Pre-Perihelion Trajectories and Application of Holograpp-Y G.L Matloff Pace Unive~~Ity, New York, New York
    Ni5A/CR-2002-211730 The Interstellar Probe (ISP): Pre-Perihelion Trajectories and Application of Holograpp-y G.L Matloff Pace Unive~~ity, New York, New York G. Vulpetti Telespazio Company, Rome, Itc;.ly C. Bangs Art ReSource Transfer, !nc., New York, New York ~ R.Haggerty Pace University, New York, NeVI York Prepared for Marshall Space Flight Center Under Contract H-29712D June 2002 The NASA STI Program Office.-.in Profile Sillcc its founding. NASA has b~cn lb.licatcd LO • CUNFERE:\"CE PUBLICATIO:-.l". Collected the ;]u"aneemcnL of aCTonaUliL-s and ~pace parers from scientific and ll..ochnical conferences. .;eicllee. The NASA Scientitic and Technical symposia. st.":lIIinars_ or OTher meeting, sponsored Information (ST!) Program Oftice plays a key or cosponsored by NASA. pan: in helping t\ASA maintain thi~ important role. • SPECIAl. PlIRLlCATION. Scientific .. tcchnical. or hi"lOrical information from I'\ASA progmm'. Thc NASA STI Program Office is operated by projects, :lnd mission. often concerned \vith Lan£ley Re~';lrch Center. lhe lead center f<lr subjccI~ having substantial public interest. :"ASA's scientitic and technical information_ The NASl\ STI Program omcc provides access to the • TECHNICAL TRANSLATIOK NASA STI Database. the brgest collection of· English-Ianguag:c translations of foreign scientific ~leronautical and space ~ciencc STl in the world. Tho:: and technical material pertinent to NASA's Progr.l.in Oftice is also :-JASA'~ i:lstitutional mission. mechanism forai~scminating the results or its rcsearch\md dc\'dopment a;livitics. ~n1\:sc rcsulL:-. Specialized ~ervices that complcment1hc STI arc published by NASA in th~ NASA STr Report Program Office's diverse orfcrings include creating Series_ which includes the following report lypes: custom theS<lllri.
    [Show full text]
  • SOLAR SYSTEM Voyager 2 Enters Interstellar Space
    SOLAR SYSTEM Voyager 2 enters interstellar space After 41 years of travel, the Voyager 2 spacecraft joins its twin in interstellar space. A suite of papers report Voyager 2’s experience of its transition through the heliosheath and heliopause to what lies beyond. As the solar wind continuously blows away from the Sun at supersonic speeds, it creates a cavity in interstellar space filled with solar material; the heliosphere. Because the solar and interstellar plasmas have different compositions, densities, temperatures, and are braided by magnetic fields of different origin, they cannot interact freely and must be separated by a discontinuous boundary. This outer edge of the heliosphere is called the heliopause and marks the start of interstellar space, or rather, the start of the interstellar medium. The Voyager 1 spacecraft, launched in 1977 shortly after its partner Voyager 2, made the transition through the heliopause 7 years ago; now Voyager 2 has also completed this astonishing feat and data from several of its instruments taken during the crossing are reported in a series of papers in this issue1–5. The plasmatic influence of the Sun extends beyond the heliopause; the heliosphere, as an obstacle to interstellar inflow, can perturb the very local interstellar medium, perhaps even forming an interstellar bow shock, or wave, upstream of the heliopause. Of course, the gravitational influence of the Sun also extends well beyond the heliopause — at least as far as the Oort cloud — but, for the purposes of heliophysics, the heliopause represents the outer-most solar structure. A complete and detailed understanding of the large-scale processes that shape the heliospheric structure, through its interaction with the interstellar medium, is not only important for heliophysics, but is also of interest to the astrophysics community; similar processes, most likely, also shape the structure of astrophysical jets, pulsar wind nebulae, jets, and other stellar wind collisions.
    [Show full text]
  • Interstellar Index: Papersinterstellarindex
    Interstellar Index: papersInterstellarindex http://www.interstellarindex.com/technical-papers/ Interstellarindex The reliable web site for interstellar information designed and managed by www.I4IS.org Papers On this page we list every technical paper known to us that has been published on interstellar studies or related themes. This includes papers on: Spacecraft concepts, designs and mission architectures, robotic and manned, which may be relevant to interstellar flight; Space technologies at all readiness levels (TRL1-9), especially in propulsion; General relativity and quantum field theory as applied to proposed warp drives and wormholes in spacetime; Any other breakthrough physics concepts applicable to propulsion; Nearby mission targets, particularly exoplanets within 20 light-years; Sociology, politics, economics, philosophy and other interstellar issues in the humanities; The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) and related search and messaging issues. A few pieces of information are missing, as shown by queries {in curly brackets}. Please be patient while we fill in these gaps. * * * 2013 Baxter, S., “Project Icarus: Interstellar Spaceprobes and Encounters with Extraterrestial Intelligence”, JBIS, 66, no.1/2, pp.51-60, Jan./Feb. 2013. Benford, J., “Starship Sails Propelled by Cost-Optimized Directed Energy”, JBIS, 66, no.3/4, pp.85-95, March/April 2013. Beyster, M.A., J. Blasi, J. Sibilia, T. Zurbuchen and A. Bowman, “Sustained Innovation through Shared Capitalism and Democratic Governance”, JBIS, 66, no.3/4, pp.133-137, March/April 2013. Breeden, J.L., “Gravitational Assist via Near-Sun Chaotic Trajectories of Binary Objects”, JBIS, 66, no.5/6, pp.190-194, May/June 2013. Cohen, M.M., R.E.
    [Show full text]
  • NASA's Space Launch System Capabilities for Ultra-High C3
    Heliophysics 2050 White Papers (2021) 4057.pdf NASA’s Space Launch System Capabilities for Ultra-High C3 Missions A White Paper for the Heliophysics Survey Robert W. Stough, James B. Holt, Dr. Kimberly F. Robinson, David A. Smith, W. David Hitt, Beverly A. Perry NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center Dr. Ralph L. McNutt Jr., Michael V. Paul Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory 1. Executive Summary Designed to meet NASA’s requirements for human exploration of the Moon, Mars and beyond, the Space Launch System (SLS) vehicle offers enhancing and enabling capabilities for a variety of missions. Using commercially available propulsion systems as third and/or fourth stages, SLS offers C3 performance double the highest-C3 missions ever flown. This capability can be game- changing for missions into the interstellar medium or for high-energy solar observation missions. Today, SLS is making progress toward its initial launch capability and toward both future launches and future capabilities. In addition, NASA has issued contracts with prime contractors for SLS hardware for delivery well into the 2030s. 2. Overview The initial configuration of SLS, the Block 1 crew vehicle, is powered at launch by four RS-25 engines and two solid rocket boosters, with an almost 67 meter (m) tall core stage. In-space propulsion is provided by an interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS). The Block 1 vehicle can be flown in a cargo configuration utilizing a commercially available 5 m fairing. The next configuration of SLS, Block 1B, upgrades the upper stage to an exploration upper stage (EUS) equipped with four RL10s.
    [Show full text]