Interstellar Propulsion Research: Realistic Possibilities and Idealistic Dreams
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An Interviewwithroger Zelazny
No. 43 December 1972 An Interview With Roger Zelazny (You have asked me to step outside myself, then turn around and interview me. Okay. I’m outside now. I’ll stop right there and start questioning him.) “Tell me about yourself, Z.” “I was born on May 13, 1937 and received my B.A. from Western Reserve University in 1959. I attended Columbia for graduate work and received my M.A. there in 1962, in English and Comparative Literature. For a little over seven years, from early 1962 to early 1969, I worked for the Social Security Administration as a claims representative in Ohio and, in the final four, as a claims policy specialist in the SSA Centred Office here in Baltimore. I have a wife (Judy) and a son (Devin).” “Wait a minute, Z. We just passed a whole generation of psychoanalytic critics and biographers awhile back. What about childhood trauma and all that crap?” “I believe a piece of writing should be considered of, in, by, and for itself, a thing independent of the person who wrote it.” “But you are talking to me. I know where you got that. You wrote nothing but poetry for years—after you got out of high school and started college—and you got hung up on the New Criticism: close textual analysis, and the hell with the guy who wrote it. A touch of end-of-the-century decadence, too. The Symbolists, Firbank... But you were a Psychology major until your final year. You know that writing is a form of bahavior, and as such it invariably bears the mark of its executor.” “Of course.” “So tell us about your childhood hangups.” “No.” “Why not?” “Because I’m a bug on privacy.” “Shyness?” “Some, I suppose. -
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. -
Interstellar Travel Or Even 1.3 Mlbs at Launch
Terraforming Mars: By Aliens? Astronomy 330 •! Sometime movies are full of errors. •! But what can you do? Music: Rocket Man– Elton John Online ICES Question •! ICES forms are available online, so far 39/100 Are you going to fill out an ICES form before the students have completed it. deadline? •! I appreciate you filling them out! •! Please make sure to leave written comments. I a)! Yes, I did it already. find these comments the most useful, and typically b)! Yes, sometime today that’s where I make the most changes to the c)! Yes, this weekend course. d)! Yes, I promise to do it before the deadline of May6th! e)! No, I am way too lazy to spend 5 mins to help you or future students out. Final Final •! In this classroom, Fri, May 7th, 0800-1100. •! A normal-sized sheet of paper with notes on both •! Will consist of sides is allowed. –! 15 question on Exam 1 material. •! Exam 1and 2 and last year’s final are posted on –! 15 question on Exam 2 material. class website (not Compass). –! 30 questions from new material (Lect 20+). –! +4 extra credit questions •! I will post a review sheet Friday. •! A total of 105 points, i.e. 5 points of extra credit. •! Final Exam grade is based on all three sections. •! If Section 1/2 grade is higher than Exam 1/2 grade, then it will replace your Exam 1/2 grade. Final Papers Outline •! Final papers due at BEGINNING of discussion •! Rockets: how to get the most bang for the buck. -
Space Propulsion.Pdf
Deep Space Propulsion K.F. Long Deep Space Propulsion A Roadmap to Interstellar Flight K.F. Long Bsc, Msc, CPhys Vice President (Europe), Icarus Interstellar Fellow British Interplanetary Society Berkshire, UK ISBN 978-1-4614-0606-8 e-ISBN 978-1-4614-0607-5 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-0607-5 Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London Library of Congress Control Number: 2011937235 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) This book is dedicated to three people who have had the biggest influence on my life. My wife Gemma Long for your continued love and companionship; my mentor Jonathan Brooks for your guidance and wisdom; my hero Sir Arthur C. Clarke for your inspirational vision – for Rama, 2001, and the books you leave behind. Foreword We live in a time of troubles. -
Hyperspace NASA BPP Program Books 8
Advanced Space Propulsion Concepts for Interstellar Travel Gregory V. Meholic [email protected] Planets HR 8799 140 LY 11/14/08 Updated 9/25/2019 1 Presentation Objectives and Caveats ▪ Provide a high-level, “evolutionary”, information-only overview of various propulsion technology concepts that, with sufficient development (i.e. $), may lead mankind to the stars. ▪ Only candidate concepts for a vehicle’s primary interstellar propulsion system will be discussed. No attitude control No earth-to-orbit launch No traditional electric systems No sail-based systems No beamed energy ▪ None of the following will be given, assumed or implied: Recommendations on specific mission designs Developmental timelines or cost estimates ▪ Not all propulsion options will be discussed – that would be impossible! 2 Chapters 1. The Ultimate Space Mission 2. The Solar System and Beyond 3. Challenges of Human Star Flight 4. “Rocket Science” Basics 5. Conventional Mass Ejection Propulsion Systems State-of-the-Art Possible Improvements 6. Alternative Mass Ejection Systems Nuclear Fission Nuclear Fusion Matter/Antimatter Other Concepts 7. Physics-Based Concepts Definitions and Things to Remember Space-Time Warp Drives Fundamental Force Coupling Alternate Dimension / Hyperspace NASA BPP Program Books 8. Closing Information 3 Chapter 1: The Ultimate Space Mission 4 The Ultimate Space Mission For humans to travel to the stars and return to Earth within a “reasonable fraction” (around 15 years) of a human lifetime. ▪ Why venture beyond our Solar System? Because we have to - humans love to explore!!! Visit the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud – Theoretical home to long-period comets Investigate the nature of the interstellar medium and its influence on the solar system (and vice versa) – Magnetic fields, low-energy galactic cosmic rays, composition, etc. -
Nuts and Nukes
Fast Rides Uses of Fusion for Space Propulsion Systems Basic Idea of a Rocket • F = m (d/dt) p • Rocket equation: vf = u ln(Mi/Mf) (non-relativistic) • So, higher exhaust velocity is better Vrms ~ 10^3 m/s (N2 @ 1000K) Vfus ~ .086 C (He4 @ 3.5 MeV) C = 3 x 10^8 m/s 3 types of nuclear rockets • Nuclear electric, NEP --- Generate electricity to run another drive, e.g. ion, photonic (Sanger, others). • Nuclear thermal, NTP --- heat a secondary reaction mass. • Direct nuclear thrust --- use the fusion products as reaction mass. Nuclear Thermal Projects • Feynman: 1940’s ($1 patent) • NERVA: 1956 – 1971 • GSCR: 1960’s • Still viewed by some as engine for Mars transport (Boeing-NASA study 1990) Project NERVA/Rover • 1956 --- 1971 • USA (Los Alamos and other locations) • 250,000 lbs. thrust (best) • Never launched in space; lab work only. • Several projects under ROVER. http://www.sti.nasa.gov/Pubs/Bulletin/04julypub/hist.html Courtesy of NASA. Project PROMETHEUS • NASA 2003 --- designs for the new Space Exploration Vision • Fission NTP, NEP engines. • Uncertainty over how much longer it will stay around. Nuclear thrust rockets • Fusion reaction directly contributes to thrust. • Origin in Project ORION • Project Daedalus --- 1970’s, UK • Bussard ramjet • Mixed with plasma rocket (along lines of VASIMR) Project Orion • Nuclear explosion pulse drive • Read: blow bombs up behind the ship. Try not to blow the ship up, too. 1 per sec. • Plumbbob test – 1957. • High exhaust v with large force • Pusher plates -> continual 1-g accel! • Conventional explosion scale test success. ORION (con’t) • Plans for 4000-ton, 1 year round-trip to Pluto. -
Nanotech Ideas in Science-Fiction-Literature
Nanotech Ideas in Science-Fiction-Literature Nanotech Ideas in Science-Fiction-Literature Text: Thomas Le Blanc Research: Svenja Partheil and Verena Knorpp Translation: Klaudia Seibel Phantastische Bibliothek Wetzlar Special thanks to the authors Karl-Ulrich Burgdorf and Friedhelm Schneidewind for the kind permission to publish and translate their two short stories Imprint Nanotech Ideas in Science-Fiction-Literature German original: Vol. 24 of the Hessen-Nanotech series by the Ministry of Economics, Energy, Transport and Regional Development, State of Hessen Compiled and written by Thomas Le Blanc Svenja Partheil, Verena Knorpp (research) Phantastische Bibliothek Wetzlar Turmstrasse 20 35578 Wetzlar, Germany Edited by Sebastian Hummel, Ulrike Niedner-Kalthoff (Ministry of Economics, Energy, Transport and Regional Development, State of Hessen) Dr. David Eckensberger, Nicole Holderbaum (Hessen Trade & Invest GmbH, Hessen-Nanotech) Editor For NANORA, the Nano Regions Alliance: Ministry of Economics, Energy, Transport and Regional Development, State of Hessen Kaiser-Friedrich-Ring 75 65185 Wiesbaden, Germany Phone: +49 (0) 611 815 2471 Fax: +49 (0) 611 815 49 2471 www.wirtschaft.hessen.de The editor is not responsible for the truthfulness, accuracy and completeness of this information nor for observing the individual rights of third parties. The views and opinions rendered herein do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editor. © Ministry of Economics, Energy, Transport and Regional Development, State of Hessen Kaiser-Friedrich-Ring 75 65185 Wiesbaden, Germany wirtschaft.hessen.de All rights reserved. No part of this brochure may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. -
The Initiative and Institute for Interstellar Studies Issue 29 | May 2020
PRINCIPIUM The Initiative and Institute for Interstellar Studies Issue 29 | May 2020 ISSN 2397-9127 www.i4is.org ■ Cassidy Cobbs - Bioscientist ■ Interstellar News ■ The Interstellar Ram Jet at 60 ■ IAC2019 the Interstellar Papers #3 ■ FAST radio telescope & Breakthrough Listen ■ Rings round exoplanets - possible megastructures R O ■ Mariner model part 2: The initial construction phase F E V ■ i4is Members Page I T A I ■ Freeman Dyson (1923-2020) T I N I ■ Feasibility of self-replicating probes for interstellar exploration ■ Book Review: Religions and Extraterrestrial Life S T U D I E S Scientia ad sidera Principium | Issue 29 | May 2020 1 Knowledge to the stars our own planet, see the review of Seveneves by Neil Stephenson in P20. Editorial Andreas Hein celebrates the life of Freeman Dyson Welcome to issue 29 of Principium, the quarterly (1923-2020), deviser of both profound mathematics about all things interstellar from i4is, the Initiative and mind boggling structures - and a founder and Institute for Interstellar Studies. member of our Advisory Council. The front cover image is a new visualisation of The book Religions and Extraterrestrial Life by a Bussard ramjet by an old friend and colleague, David Weintraub looks at the reaction we might Alex Storer (thelightdream.net). This year we mark expect to a successful SETI. John Davies reviews it the 60th anniversary of the publication of the paper and recommends it with a few reservations. Galactic Matter and Interstellar Flight by Robert China has built the gigantic FAST radio telescope. W Bussard (Acta Astronautica, VI, pp 179-195, We examine how this will work with the 1960), The distinguished spacecraft engineer and Breakthrough Listen SETI initiative. -
Interstellar Travel Or Even • Can Relate Mass to Energy, I.E
Carl Sagan Says Astronomy 330 • "These are some of the things Hydrogen atoms do, given 15 billion years of evolution" • "We are, in the most profound sense, children of the Cosmos" • "We are star stuff contemplating the stars“ • “Tell a man that there are 100 billion stars in our Next Class: Galaxy and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has This class (Lecture 26): Visitations ICES eval wet paint and he has to touch it .” Space Travel ICES eval Warning, not really Carl Sagan quote. HW 11 is due! Music: Space Race is Over – Billy Bragg Apr 22, 2008 Astronomy 330 Spring 2008 Apr 22, 2008 Astronomy 330 Spring 2008 Final Papers Final • Take home exam (will try to bring it on the 24 th ). • You must turn final paper in with the graded nd rough draft. • Must be dropped off no later than May 2 (noon) in my mailbox in astro building. • Unless you are happy with your rough draft grade • You are allowed 4 hours– must be typed. as you final paper grade, then email me to keep • Will consist of the grade. – 7 short answer questions (5-10 points each, 1 short paragraph) • Final paper is due on last day of class. – 2 short essays (15 points each, 2-3 paragraphs) – 2 large essay question (50 points each, 1-2 pages). • A total of 210 points graded out of 200 points. • A normal-sized sheet of paper with notes on both sides is allowed, but otherwise closed-book/lecture notes. Apr 22, 2008 Astronomy 330 Spring 2008 Apr 22, 2008 Astronomy 330 Spring 2008 Combustion Rocket Outline Terminology • Rockets: how to get the most bang for the buck. -
Lecture 41: Interstellar Travel and Colonization
Lecture 41: Interstellar Travel and Colonization Lecture 41 Interstellar Travel and Colonization Astronomy 141 – Winter 2012 This lecture is about the challenges of interstellar travel and colonization. Interstellar travel is extremely challenging due to both vast distances and basic physics. The current state of the art in spacecraft is too slow for interstellar travel by many orders of magnitude Practical interstellar travel requires near light speeds, which entails enormous energy requirements. Colonization of other star systems can lead to exponential growth in the number of inhabited systems. Even with modest assumptions, the time to colonize the entire Galaxy is smaller than the lifetime of the Galaxy. What if we find life elsewhere in the Galaxy? An Earth-like planet in its star’s habitable zone with confirmed spectral biomarkers? A localizable radio signal from an extra-terrestrial intelligence? The desire to go there would be overwhelming… Astronomy 141 - Winter 2012 1 Lecture 41: Interstellar Travel and Colonization Getting there may be half the fun, but it is all of the problem of interstellar travel. A problem of basic physics … All objects have mass Accelerating masses requires energy The more the acceleration, the greater the energy required. …coupled with the vast scale of interstellar distances. Locally, stars are ~6 light years apart on average. The current state-of-the-art is orders of magnitude too slow to be practical for interstellar travel. New Horizons: Launched: 2006 Jan 19 Jupiter Encounter: 2007 Feb 28 Pluto Flyby: 2015 July 14 Leaves the Solar System: 2029 Voyager 1: Speed: 61,400 km/h (38,200 mph). -
Bussard Ramjet Was Presented in 1977 [8]
TVIW 2016 Three Interstellar Ram Jets Albert A. Jackson . 73 TVIW 2016 Three Interstellar Ram Jets ALBERT ALLEN JACKSON IV Lunar and Planetary Institute, 3600 Bay Area Blvd, Houston, TX 77058, USA. Abstract The mass ratio problem in interstellar flight presents a major problem[1,[2}; a solution to this is the Interstellar Ramjet[3]. An alternative to the Bussard Ramjet was presented in 1977 [8]. The Laser Powered Interstellar Ramjet, LPIR. This vehicle uses a solar system based laser beaming power to a vehicle which scoops interstellar hydrogen and uses a linear accelerator to boost the collected particle energy for propulsion. This method bypasses the problem of using nuclear fusion to power the ramjet. Engine mass is off loaded to the beaming station. Not much work has been done on this system in last 40 years. Presented here are some ideas about boosting the LPIR with a laser station before engaging the ram mode, using a time dependent power station to keep the LPIR under acceleration. Fishback[4] in 1969 calculated important limitations on the ramjet magnetic intake, these considerations were augmented in a paper by Martin in 1973[6]. Fishback showed there was a limiting Lorentz factor for an interstellar ramjet. In 1977 Dan Whitmire [7] made progress towards solving the fusion reactor of the interstellar ramjet by noting that one could use the CNO process rather than the PP mechanism. Another solution to fusion reactor limitations is to scoop fuel from the interstellar medium , carry a reaction mass , like antimatter, combine to produce thrust [9,10,11]. -
A Science-Driven Mission Concept to an Exoplanet
A Science-Driven Mission Concept to an Exoplanet Stacy Weinstein-Weiss1, Marc Rayman1, Slava Turyshev1, Abhijit Biswass1, Insoo Jun1, Hoppy Price1, Eric Mamajek1, John Callas1, Tim McElrath1, Dave Woerner1, John Brophy1, Mike Shao1, Leon Alkalai1, Nitin Arora1, Les Johnson2, Merav Opher3, Seth Redfield4, Ralph McNutt5, Carol Stoker6, Jennifer Blank6, Douglas Caldwell7, Louis Friedman8, Robert Frisbee8, Gary Bennett8 1 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 2 NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Redstone Arsenal Huntsville, AL 35812 3 Boston University, 1 Silber Way, Boston, MA 02215 4 Wesleyan University, 45 Wyllys Ave, Middletown, CT 06459 5 Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, 11100 Johns Hopkins Rd, Laurel, MD 20723 6 NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Blvd, Mountain View, CA 94035 7 SETI Institute, 189 N Bernardo Ave, Mountain View, CA 94043 8 Consultant A concept for a science-driven robotic mission to an exoplanet was developed by a team of scientists and engineers from NASA and academia. The concept and scope were based on key mission and science requirements designed to address the question: “What makes a flight mission to an exoplanet compelling, in terms of science return, compared to what we will be able to learn in the next few decades with large near-Earth telescopes or other remote sensing techniques such as a telescope at the Solar Gravity Lens Focus?” By thinking systematically through mission and science goals and objectives, key requirements were developed that would drive technology developments in all necessary aspects, not just on propulsion. Unique science measurements would be performed en route to the exoplanet, including exploring the environment in the outer regions of our solar system, the Oort Cloud, the local interstellar medium, and the astrospheric environment around the host star.