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Aerospace America: A Survey of Possible Interstellar Propulsion Methods [pdf]

32 points by Osiris30 11y ago

superkuh 11y ago
An interesting partial survey but I'm confused. If it's going to include future tech like anti-matter and fusion I'm really surprised they'd leave out currently feasible propulsion systems like electrostatic sails or fission fragment rocket engines. And ultra dense deuterium? That's not even verified peer-reviewed science. That's fringe.
blisterpeanuts 11y ago
2099? Maybe my daughter (b. 2004) will live to see it; in fact there's every reason to believe she and her cohort will live well into the 22nd Century, barring accidents, apocalyptic wars, terrorism, etc. I would hope they could get from 20% of light speed to 40%, and get one of those Coke cans to A. Centauri twice as fast, so more of us will live to see it. If you can send one such object, you can send a swarm of hundreds, and when they get there, those that survive will be able to do some interesting imaging and data gathering work for those eagerly waiting back home. Of course, by 2100 it's possible that vastly superior propulsion techniques (or the highly desirable wormhole technique described in the article) will have been developed that will blow right past these primitive tin cans. But you have to crawl before you can walk, and walk before you can run. The bottom line here is that humanity, or at least some significant and affluent chunk of it, needs to want to do this badly enough to commit the resources. If not Euro-U.S.-Japan, perhaps eventually China or India. Or our robotic successors....
- IndianAstronaut 11y ago
  >If not Euro-U.S.-Japan, perhaps eventually China or India. Competition seems to be one of the main drivers of space exploration.
al2o3cr 11y ago
Seems like the problem the "Coke Can" launch vehicle would have would be debris in the path - sure, there's only a couple dozen atoms per cubic meter out there, but when those atoms are coming straight at you at 10km per second...
- bemmu 11y ago
  Also it would be a shame to whiz by your destination at 20% speed of light without being able to stop and look at the planets.
cowardlydragon 11y ago
Antimatter catalyzed/enhanced fission?

32 points by Osiris30 11y ago

An interesting partial survey but I'm confused. If it's going to include future tech like anti-matter and fusion I'm really surprised they'd leave out currently feasible propulsion systems like electrostatic sails or fission fragment rocket engines. And ultra dense deuterium? That's not even verified peer-reviewed science. That's fringe.

blisterpeanuts 11y ago

2099? Maybe my daughter (b. 2004) will live to see it; in fact there's every reason to believe she and her cohort will live well into the 22nd Century, barring accidents, apocalyptic wars, terrorism, etc. I would hope they could get from 20% of light speed to 40%, and get one of those Coke cans to A. Centauri twice as fast, so more of us will live to see it. If you can send one such object, you can send a swarm of hundreds, and when they get there, those that survive will be able to do some interesting imaging and data gathering work for those eagerly waiting back home. Of course, by 2100 it's possible that vastly superior propulsion techniques (or the highly desirable wormhole technique described in the article) will have been developed that will blow right past these primitive tin cans. But you have to crawl before you can walk, and walk before you can run. The bottom line here is that humanity, or at least some significant and affluent chunk of it, needs to want to do this badly enough to commit the resources. If not Euro-U.S.-Japan, perhaps eventually China or India. Or our robotic successors....

IndianAstronaut 11y ago
>If not Euro-U.S.-Japan, perhaps eventually China or India. Competition seems to be one of the main drivers of space exploration.

al2o3cr 11y ago

Seems like the problem the "Coke Can" launch vehicle would have would be debris in the path - sure, there's only a couple dozen atoms per cubic meter out there, but when those atoms are coming straight at you at 10km per second...

bemmu 11y ago
Also it would be a shame to whiz by your destination at 20% speed of light without being able to stop and look at the planets.

cowardlydragon 11y ago

Antimatter catalyzed/enhanced fission?