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Is there any possibility we could launch a really fast space probe that could overtake this object and report back, maybe within the next decade or so? Do we ha

Is there any possibility we could launch a really fast space probe that could overtake this object and report back, maybe within the next decade or so? Do we have the technology now to pull alongside this rock (and it's going to be slowing down)?

api 9y ago
Probably. Strap a big overpowered upper stage behind a little lightweight payload and you can fire something pretty fast.
- valuearb 9y ago
  Unfortunately it's almost impossible at this point. The object passed pedigree a while ago and is headed back out, earth is in a very poor position for an intercept. The calculations I've seen say even if you use the largest possible booster, the SLS (which doesn't exist now, won't exist for another 3 years, if ever) it couldn't even get a small probe to catch up for a very long time, if ever. There may be options in using Jupiter for slingshot maneuvers to overcome our bad positioning, and using super advanced hall effect motors, or project slingshot type probes. But it seems pretty slim at this point. UPDATE: The reddit thread has this comment "Not a chance. Velocity relative to the sun is presently > 39 km/sec and relative to the earth is > 64 km/sec. This is far faster than anything we have ever launched or even could plausibly launch in the near future". Which explains why you need Jupiter to redirect your probe so you can have it go only 40Km/sec to catch up, rather than 65 Km/sec direct from earth.
wiml 9y ago
I've seen a couple of suggestions for ways we could theoretically catch it. One is high-Isp rocket motors, which I think would have to be nuclear-thermal like NERVA. If we had one of those already lying around, it might be possible to catch up. The other possibility I've seen discussed are extremely lightweight probes — chip-scale probes weighing less than a gram — accelerated by zillion-gigawatt laser arrays on Earth (or maybe in low Earth orbit). Since those probes don't have to carry their own fuel, they can reach much higher speeds, a sizable fraction of the speed of light, and could catch up to 'Oumuamua even if it took us a few years to develop the technology. Neither of those are technologies we have (though we did build and test some NERVA prototypes back in the day) but they are things that we, as a civilization, could plausibly develop.

api 9y ago

Probably. Strap a big overpowered upper stage behind a little lightweight payload and you can fire something pretty fast.

valuearb 9y ago
Unfortunately it's almost impossible at this point. The object passed pedigree a while ago and is headed back out, earth is in a very poor position for an intercept. The calculations I've seen say even if you use the largest possible booster, the SLS (which doesn't exist now, won't exist for another 3 years, if ever) it couldn't even get a small probe to catch up for a very long time, if ever. There may be options in using Jupiter for slingshot maneuvers to overcome our bad positioning, and using super advanced hall effect motors, or project slingshot type probes. But it seems pretty slim at this point. UPDATE: The reddit thread has this comment "Not a chance. Velocity relative to the sun is presently > 39 km/sec and relative to the earth is > 64 km/sec. This is far faster than anything we have ever launched or even could plausibly launch in the near future". Which explains why you need Jupiter to redirect your probe so you can have it go only 40Km/sec to catch up, rather than 65 Km/sec direct from earth.

wiml 9y ago

I've seen a couple of suggestions for ways we could theoretically catch it. One is high-Isp rocket motors, which I think would have to be nuclear-thermal like NERVA. If we had one of those already lying around, it might be possible to catch up. The other possibility I've seen discussed are extremely lightweight probes — chip-scale probes weighing less than a gram — accelerated by zillion-gigawatt laser arrays on Earth (or maybe in low Earth orbit). Since those probes don't have to carry their own fuel, they can reach much higher speeds, a sizable fraction of the speed of light, and could catch up to 'Oumuamua even if it took us a few years to develop the technology. Neither of those are technologies we have (though we did build and test some NERVA prototypes back in the day) but they are things that we, as a civilization, could plausibly develop.