Journal of the British Interplanetary Society VOLUME 71 NO.4 APRIL 2018 Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop PULSED MAGNETIC NOZZLE for Fusion Propulsion Jason Cassibry et al FISSION FRAGMENT ROCKET: Fuel Production and Structural Considerations Pauli Erik Laine FLYING ON A RAINBOW A Solar-Driven Diffractive Sailcraft Grover A. Swartzlander, Jr. EVALUATION OF THE HAZARD OF DUST IMPACTS on Interstellar Spacecraft Richard A. London & James T. Early A SCIENCE-DRIVEN MISSION CONCEPT to an Exoplanet Stacy Weinstein-Weiss et al CONTACT WITH ALIEN BIOMES: Possible Biochemical Incompatibilities Kenneth Roy & Catherine Smith www.bis-space.com ISSN 0007-084X PUBLICATION DATE: 23 NOVEMBER 2018 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. 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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.4 APRIL 2018 118 INTRODUCTION Tracie Prater and Les Johnson 119 PULSED MAGNETIC NOZZLE for Fusion Propulsion Jason Cassibry et al 126 FISSION FRAGMENT ROCKET: Fuel Production and Structural Considerations Pauli Erik Laine 130 FLYING ON A RAINBOW A Solar-Driven Diffractive Sailcraft Grover A. Swartzlander, Jr. 133 EVALUATION OF THE HAZARD OF DUST IMPACTS on Interstellar Spacecraft Richard A. London & James T. Early 140 A SCIENCE-DRIVEN MISSION CONCEPT to an Exoplanet Stacy Weinstein-Weiss et al 150 CONTACT WITH ALIEN BIOMES: Possible Biochemical Incompatibilities Kenneth Roy & Catherine Smith OUR MISSION STATEMENT The British Interplanetary Society promotes the exploration and use of space for the benefit of humanity, connecting people to create, educate and inspire, and advance knowledge in all aspects of astronautics. JBIS Vol 71 No.4 April 2018 117 INTRODUCTION Introduction by TRACIE PRATER1 and LES JOHNSON2, 1Materials scientist at NASA’s George C. Marshall Flight Center and presenter at the TVIW; 2General Chair of the TVIW, and Principal Investigator of NASA’s first interplanetary solar sail mission, Near Earth Asteroid Scout. “All civilizations become either spacefaring or extinct.” – CARL SAGAN f all the journeys the human species has imagined plasma environment. Other papers consider laser-driven light- in the course of its 100,000 year history, none is sails as a proposed propulsive technique for interstellar travel. longer, more daunting, and more fraught with In “Flying on a Rainbow: A Solar Driven Diffractive Sailcraft”, technical and physiological challenges than the Grover Swartzlander offers an alternative to the traditional sail Ojourney to the stars. From our earth-based per- design, which uses highly reflective materials, by proposing an spective, interstellar space begins where the influence of our active diffractive sail surface. Absorption is significantly -re Sun ends. The boundary is marked by a sharp increase in the duced and transmitted photons can be re-used or exploited to density of plasma far beyond levels observed in the heliosphere provide energy for craft subsystems. (the region where the solar wind – the flow of charged parti- cles from the sun – is present) and the heliosheath (the outer- Regardless of the propulsion technique used, an interstel- most shell of charged particles emanating from the sun). This lar craft must be able to survive the harsh environment of the space between stars has to date been traversed only by a single interstellar medium. Richard London’s “Evaluation of the Haz- human-made probe, Voyager 1, which left the heliosheath in ard of Dust Impacts on Interstellar Spacecraft” examines the 2012 after 36 years of operation. The significance of Voyager 1 impact of space environmental effects on a craft traveling at is immense – quite simply, it represents humanity’s first, small a fraction of the speed of light in the region beyond the heli- step into the interstellar medium. Moving at 17 km/s, the probe osheath. London simulates the collision of energetic interstellar continues its journey at only 0.006 percent of the speed of light. dust grains with structures of varying thickness and, based on these analyses, offers design strategies to mitigate damage. Held 40 years after the launch of Voyager 1, the October 2017 meeting of the Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop Another paper presents system-level analyses of interstellar (TVIW), with its theme of “Step by Step: Building a Ladder to missions. Stacy Weinstein-Weiss’s “A Science Driven Mission the Stars”, emphasized the small steps that will one day pave Concept to an Exoplanet” designs an interstellar mission with the way for monumental interstellar missions. TVIW is a non- science requirements as the preeminent consideration. In mis- profit organization with a goal of facilitating research,