Foundations of Interstellar Studies NY Issue
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Journal of the British Interplanetary Society VOLUME 71 NO.8 AUGUST 2018 Foundations of Interstellar Studies NY Issue FIRST STOP ON THE INTERSTELLAR JOURNEY The Solar Gravity Lens Focus Louis Friedman & Slava G. Turyshev EXPERIMENTAL SIMULATION OF DUST IMPACTS at Starflight Velocities Andrew J. Higgins PLASMA DYNAMICS in Firefly's Z-pinch Fusion Engine Robert M. Freeland II GRAM-SCALE NANO-SPACECRAFT Entry into Star Systems Albert Allen Jackson IV THE INTERSTELLAR FUSION FUEL RESOURCE BASE of our Solar System Robert G. Kennedy TESTS OF FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS in Interstellar Flight Roman Ya. Kezerashvili www.bis-space.com ISSN 0007-084X PUBLICATION DATE: 4 JANUARY 2019 Submitting papers International Advisory Board to JBIS JBIS welcomes the submission of technical Rachel Armstrong, Newcastle University, UK papers for publication dealing with technical Peter Bainum, Howard University, USA reviews, research, technology and engineering in astronautics and related fields. Stephen Baxter, Science & Science Fiction Writer, UK James Benford, Microwave Sciences, California, USA Text should be: James Biggs, Te University of Strathclyde, UK ■ As concise as the content allows – typically 5,000 to 6,000 words. Shorter papers (Technical Notes) Anu Bowman, Foundation for Enterprise Development, California, USA will also be considered; longer papers will only Gerald Cleaver, Baylor University, USA be considered in exceptional circumstances – for Charles Cockell, University of Edinburgh, UK example, in the case of a major subject review. Ian A. Crawford, Birkbeck College London, UK ■ Source references should be inserted in the text in square brackets – [1] – and then listed at the Adam Crowl, Icarus Interstellar, Australia end of the paper. Eric W. Davis, Institute for Advanced Studies at Austin, USA ■ Illustration references should be cited in Kathryn Denning, York University, Toronto, Canada numerical order in the text; those not cited in the Martyn Fogg, Probability Research Group, UK text risk omission. Raghavan Gopalaswami, Aerospace Researcher, India ■ Captions must be labelled with their Fig. number and should be as short as possible. Lamartine Guimarães, Institute for Advanced Studies, Brazil Mark Hempsell, Hempsell Astronautics Ltd, UK Illustrations should be: Takuto Ishimatsu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA ■ Colour or mono, but should be as close to print Les Johnson, Marshall Space Flight Center, USA resolution (300 dpi) as possible. Poor-quality illustrations may compromise the acceptance of Terry Kammash, University of Michigan, USA paper for publication. Images embedded in Word Kelvin F. Long, Initiative for Interstellar Studies documents may be acceptable, but JBIS reserves Inoue Makoto, Institute of Astronomy & Astrophysics Academia Sinica, Taiwan the right to request separate higher-resolution Gregory L. Matlof, City University New York, USA image files from the author prior to publication. Koichi Mori, Nagoya University, Japan ■ Responsibility for copyright clearance of images rests entirely with the author. Richard Obousy, Richard Obousy Consulting LLC, USA Robert Parkinson, BIS, Aylesbury, UK Submission of papers George Schmidt, NASA John H Glenn Research Center, Ohio, USA ■ Papers for consideration should be sent by Paul Schuch, Te SETI League Inc, USA email to [email protected] as both a Word document and as a Word PDF file (in order to Tabitha Smith, Bifrost, USA check for font anomalies), together with any Andreas Tziolas, Variance Dynamical Corporation, USA separate image files. Chris Welch, Te International Space University, Strasbourg, France ■ If a paper is accepted for publication, the Friedwardt Winterberg, University of Nevada, Reno, USA author will be asked to sign a License to Publish form. This can be downloaded at www.bis- space.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ WebsiteLicense.pdf. ■ Authors will receive a complimentary copy of the issue in which their paper appears. Editor Roger Longstaff Deputy Editor Duncan Law-Green Associate Editors Stephen Ashworth, We respectfully ask authors to adhere to these Keith Cooper, Stephen Gamble, Paul Gilster, Rob Swinney, Production MP3 Media guidelines. Failure to do so will result in the Promotion Gill Norman JBIS Office British Interplanetary Society, Arthur C. Clarke House, delay of acceptable papers for publication. 27-29 South Lambeth Road, London, SW8 1SZ, United Kingdom tel +44 (0)20 7735 3160 email [email protected] www.bis-space.com Our full Guidelines for Authors can be downloaded DISTRIBUTION from www.bis-space.com JBIS is distributed worldwide by mail and may be received by annual subscription or purchase of single copies. It is available through membership of the British Interplanetary Society at much reduced rates. Subscription details for members, non-members and libraries are available from the above address. JBIS is a publication that promotes the mission of the British Interplanetary Society. Opinions expressed in signed articles are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or the Council of the British Interplanetary Society. Security clearance, where necessary, is the responsibility of the author. Published by the British Interplanetary Society. Registered Company No: 402498. Registered Charity No: 250556. Printed by Latimer Trend & Company Ltd, Estover Road, Plymouth, PL6 7PY, England. © 2018 British Interplanetary Society. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system without prior permission from the Publishers. CONTENTS VOLUME 71 NO.8 AUGUST 2018 274 Introduction 275 FIRST STOP ON THE INTERSTELLAR JOURNEY The Solar Gravity Lens Focus Louis Friedman & Slava G. Turyshev 280 EXPERIMENTAL SIMULATION OF DUST IMPACTS at Starflight Velocities Andrew J. Higgins 288 PLASMA DYNAMICS in Firefly's Z-pinch Fusion Engine Robert M. Freeland II 294 GRAM-SCALE NANO-SPACECRAFT Entry into Star Systems Albert Allen Jackson IV 298 THE INTERSTELLAR FUSION FUEL RESOURCE BASE of our Solar System Robert G. Kennedy 306 TESTS OF FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS in Interstellar Flight Roman Ya. Kezerashvili OUR MISSION STATEMENT The British Interplanetary Society promotes the exploration and use of space for the beneft of humanity, connecting people to create, educate and inspire, and advance knowledge in all aspects of astronautics. JBIS Vol 71 No.8 August 2018 273 INTRODUCTION Introduction Foundations of Interstellar Studies Workshop, NY e would like to present, with great pleasure, scope and similar endeavors, the workshop was conceived the special issue of the Journal of the British around one of the greatest questions of our age – can we Interplanetary Society, which is dedicated cross the vast distances of space to visit other worlds orbit- to a unique International Workshop on the ing other stars? During three days, the Workshop hosted a W Foundations of Interstellar Studies. Tis total of 27 thought-provoking presentations which sought to workshop was held on 13-15 June 2017 in New York, USA at answer that very question. On day 1, we focused on tradition- New York City College of Technology (City Tech), the City al “energetic reaction engines” which used all combinations University of New York (CUNY). Tis meeting was the result of electrical, plasma, nuclear, chemical, and even antimatter of a successful a collaboration between the Institute for Inter- propulsion; day two was dedicated to concepts involving the stellar Studies and the Center for Teoretical Physics (CTP) of transfer of momentum via photons, such as solar sails, laser the Physics Department at City Tech, CUNY. One of the goals sails, microwave sails, particle beamers, stellar wind pushers.; of the workshop was to facilitate interactions through infor- and day three was devoted to exotic forms of propulsion, in- mal conversations and bring scientists and engineers together cluding quantum vacuum energy drives, warp drives, worm to discuss current problems in the hope that some solutions holes, and loop quantum gravity. Tis innovative workshop can be realized, or future research directions planned. was full of fascinating ideas and enlightening discussion. We At the start of this new millennium we are faced with one are pleased to present this special issue and upcoming issues of the greatest challenges of our era — interplanetary and of the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society highlighting interstellar travel. At the end of the last century, the idea of some of the most intriguing and thought-provoking papers interstellar travel was merely considered science fction. In presented during the Workshop. recent times, that has changed and interstellar fight has re- ceived much attention. Tis is signifcant because of the dis- Co-chairmen, covery of many planets outside of our Solar System orbiting other stars. Indeed, we now know that an Earth sizes mass Professor Roman Kezerashvili, Ph.D D.Sc planet orbits our closest extrasolar stars, Proxima Centauri. Professor of Physics In addition, national space agencies and private commercial Director of the Center for Teoretical Physics industry are beginning to turn their attention to the planets City Tech, CUNY and beyond. It is time to start considering bold interstellar journeys and how we might accomplish them. Yet, this chal- lenge presents many difcult problems to solve. Who better to Kelvin F. Long BEng Msc FBIS CPhys address them than the global physics community? Executive