Laser propulsion (Q. Zhang)
Since the beginning of spaceflight, humans have accomplished wonderful feats of exploration and showcased their drive to understand the universe.
Yet, in those 60 years, only one spacecraft, Voyager 1 (launched in 1977) has left the solar system. As remarkable as this is, humans will never reach even the nearest stars with out current propulsion technology. Instead, radically new strategies involving the technology already available must be used.
We propose a roadmap to a program that will lead to sending relativistic probes to the nearest stars.
To do so requires a fundamental change in our thinking of both propulsion and our definition of what a spacecraft is. In addition to larger spacecrafts capable of human transportation, we consider “wafer sats”, wafer-scale systems weighing no more than a gram. The wafer sats would include integrated optical communications, optical systems, and sensors. These crafts, combined with directed energy propulsion, could be capable of speeds greater than 0.25 c.
This program has applications for planetary defense, SETI and Kepler missions.
The richness of the interstellar medium from the sun to the nearest stars (Keck Institute for Space Studies)
Learn more: Directed Energy Interstellar Precursors
The Latest on: Space laser propulsion
via Google News
The Latest on: Space laser propulsion
- ESA Awards Contract for Galileo Second Generation Advanced Orbit Determination and Time Synchronizationon April 16, 2021 at 2:24 pm
The European Space Agency (ESA) picked Thales Alenia Space to develop the Advanced Orbit Determination and Time Synchronisation (ODTS) Algorithms Test Platform ...
- NASA’s Mars Helicopter to Make Historic First Flight Attempt – “Martian Wright Brothers Moment”on April 12, 2021 at 2:42 am
The small rotorcraft’s “Wright brothers moment” is one Mars day away. NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is two days away from making humanity’s first attempt at powered, controlled flight of an ...
- NASA’s Mars Helicopter to Make First Flight Attempton April 10, 2021 at 10:32 am
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is two days away from making humanity’s first attempt at powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet. If all proceeds as plann ...
- NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter to make first flight attempt on Sundayon April 10, 2021 at 12:10 am
Mission control specialists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern ... from mission controllers at JPL through NASA's Deep Space Network to a receiving antenna aboard Perseverance.
- The Future Of Space Is Tinyon April 9, 2021 at 5:00 pm
We’ve moved on from the days where space was solely the domain ... would make use of photonic propulsion such as a solar sail and laser thrusters; concepts that would be far more difficult ...
- NASA's Mars Helicopter to make first flight attempt Sundayon April 9, 2021 at 3:10 pm
Mission control specialists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern ... from mission controllers at JPL through NASA's Deep Space Network to a receiving antenna aboard Perseverance.
- Direct Laser Propulsion For Earth-Mars in 30 Days and Eventually 2.5 Dayson April 7, 2021 at 11:37 am
His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and ...
via Bing News