New research indicates that tens to hundreds of planet-sized nomadic worlds may populate the spherical volume centered on Earth and circumscribed by Proxima Centauri, and thus may comprise closer interstellar targets than any stellar planetary system. For the first time, there is systematic analysis of the feasibility of exploring these unbounded celestial bodies via deep …
Jeff Greason describes how to go from 2% of lightspeed using dynamic solar wind soaring and then using pellets propelled from the sun to go from 2-6% of lightspeed using existing near term technology. At 6% of lightspeed the particles in the interstellar medium interact with the spacecraft like beyond nuclear fusion level energy. The …
How do we extract energy from space around a spacecraft? If there are differences in the speed of the solar wind or differences in flows of particles around a spacecraft or where a spacecraft is passing then highly efficient extraction of power can enable great capabilities. On earth, we had sailing ships millennia before turbines …
The Bussard Ramjet drive has been proven not to work, but laying out a runway of fuel could work. This has been examined in more detail. Fuel is deliberately emplaced in the path of the spacecraft before the flight. Kare proposed that, at the velocities proposed for interstellar flight, nuclear fusion can be accomplished at …
Ultra Safe Nuclear has been funded by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to demonstrate a chargeable, encapsulated nuclear radioisotope battery (called EmberCore) for propulsion and power applications in space. This ‘next-gen’ radioisotope system will be able to scale to 10x higher power levels, compared to plutonium systems, and provide more than 1 million kilowatt hours …
Avalanche is a VC-backed, fusion energy start-up based in Seattle, WA. They are designing, testing and building micro-fusion reactors that you can hold in your hand. Their modular reactor design can be stacked for endless power applications and unprecedented energy density to provide clean energy and decarbonize the planet. Avalanche is developing a 5kWe power …
Magnetic helicity dynamics are important in solar flares and coronal mass ejections. Magnetic helicity is present in the solar wind. Its conservation is very important in dynamo processes. It also plays a role in fusion research, for example in reversed field pinch experiments. There is now work to create plasma guns and systems that leverage …
The Limitless Space Institute is reviewing the work of Interstellar grant recipients. It is feasible but very difficult to make a laser pushed sail reach 20% of the speed of light. The general parameters are for an array of lasers with 100 Gigawatts of power to push a 1 gram solar sail that has 4 …
Solar sails allow a low cost pathway to high speed and ubiquitous exploration of the outer solar system and interstellar space. A slingshot maneuver ~2-5 solar radii distant from the sun can propel light-weight cubesat class spacecraft to near-relativistic speeds. They can reach 0.1% of the speed of light (over 300 km/s or restated as …
The Plasma Magnet work sponsored by NIAC in 2004-2005 developed a means of producing drag against the interplanetary solar wind or interstellar medium with high drag-to-mass ratio. A new class of reaction drive is discussed, in which reaction mass is expelled from a vehicle using power extracted from the relative motion of the vehicle and …
The Helicity Drive concept is a novel magneto-inertial fusion concept designed for a fusion space propulsion system. It has promising Lawson criterion performance scaling with input geometry resulting in power output that is uniquely scalable across thrust power classes (10s kW to GW levels) at high specific power. It exploits magnetic reconnection as a fast, …