Jeff Greason’s provides his fastest summary of leveraging the solar wind, pellet riding and Q drive to reach 24% of the speed of light.
Q drive uses the solar wind as a power source to accelerate reaction mass. This can take 25% of the mass of the vehicle to go 4 times faster.
Simply using a plasma magnet to create a magnetic field we can reach the speed of the solar wind at 0.2% of light speed (600 km/second). A $20-40 million cubesat mission could prove this with a 30 day flyby of Jupiter.
Dynamic soaring on the solar wind at the edge of the solar system can get to 2% of the speed of light in 1 to 2 years.
A stream of pellets can be sent from the sun at 2% of the speed of light. Ride the pellet stream to get ot 6% of the speed of light.
Use the Q drive trick to get to 24% of the speed of light.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. 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 Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.