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The 100-Year Plan for Space
Travel
There are many problems to solve before we can send a spaceship to
another star system. About the only thing most folks agree on is that at
some point we must make the journey or eventually humans will join the
dinosaurs on the species extinction list.
We don't know when that day will come, whether we will bring it on
ourselves by nuclear or environmental disaster, or if Mother Nature pulls
the trigger with an asteroid impact, a global natural disaster or just
because the Earth is poorly positioned to outlive the eventual death of the
sun.
The consensus of some of the best rocket scientists of our day is that
there are basically two ways to cut down the transportation time to
another star -- build spaceships running on thermonuclear engines, or zap
vehicles across the cosmos by bouncing laser beams off their sails. But the
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is
spearheading 100YSS with help from NASA, is open to new ideas, like
anti-gravity engines, plasma shields and other technologies that now exist
only in science fiction.
It was a fascinating gathering, both technically and culturally. Unlike
previous government-organized space exploration initiatives, DARPA cast
as wide a net as possible in its quest for capable minds and willing souls to
nourish and evolve the idea. Symposium organizers received more than 500
submissions for paper abstracts and panel topics from people as far away
as China, South Africa, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, whose
British Interplanetary Society has long studied concepts for interstellar
space travel and which intends to publish papers from the symposium over
the coming months.
For its part, DARPA sees plenty of potential spinoff technologies of interest
to the U.S. military.
"There are definitely offshoots that are coming out of the research
opportunities that were presented here and talked about that are relevant
to the Department of Defense," said DARPA's director of tactical
technology David Neyland.
The next step is the award of a $500,000 DARPA grant for an organization
to carry the project forward. In the spirit of openness, non-U.S. entities
are welcome to apply. Proposals are due Nov. 11.
Images: Top: Artist's rendering of a proposed intersteller ship called
Daedalus. For fuel, it would mine helium-3 from the clouds of Jupiter.
Credit © David A. Hardy/www.astroart.org for Discovery News. Insert:
Our nearest neighbor, Alpha Centauri, a triple star system 4.22 light years
away. The red star at center is Proxima Centauri, the closest of the trio.
Credit: David Malin/UK Schmidt Telescope/DSS/AAO.)
The 100-Year Plan for Space Travel : Discovery News
Travel
There are many problems to solve before we can send a spaceship to
another star system. About the only thing most folks agree on is that at
some point we must make the journey or eventually humans will join the
dinosaurs on the species extinction list.
We don't know when that day will come, whether we will bring it on
ourselves by nuclear or environmental disaster, or if Mother Nature pulls
the trigger with an asteroid impact, a global natural disaster or just
because the Earth is poorly positioned to outlive the eventual death of the
sun.
The consensus of some of the best rocket scientists of our day is that
there are basically two ways to cut down the transportation time to
another star -- build spaceships running on thermonuclear engines, or zap
vehicles across the cosmos by bouncing laser beams off their sails. But the
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is
spearheading 100YSS with help from NASA, is open to new ideas, like
anti-gravity engines, plasma shields and other technologies that now exist
only in science fiction.
It was a fascinating gathering, both technically and culturally. Unlike
previous government-organized space exploration initiatives, DARPA cast
as wide a net as possible in its quest for capable minds and willing souls to
nourish and evolve the idea. Symposium organizers received more than 500
submissions for paper abstracts and panel topics from people as far away
as China, South Africa, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, whose
British Interplanetary Society has long studied concepts for interstellar
space travel and which intends to publish papers from the symposium over
the coming months.
For its part, DARPA sees plenty of potential spinoff technologies of interest
to the U.S. military.
"There are definitely offshoots that are coming out of the research
opportunities that were presented here and talked about that are relevant
to the Department of Defense," said DARPA's director of tactical
technology David Neyland.
The next step is the award of a $500,000 DARPA grant for an organization
to carry the project forward. In the spirit of openness, non-U.S. entities
are welcome to apply. Proposals are due Nov. 11.
Images: Top: Artist's rendering of a proposed intersteller ship called
Daedalus. For fuel, it would mine helium-3 from the clouds of Jupiter.
Credit © David A. Hardy/www.astroart.org for Discovery News. Insert:
Our nearest neighbor, Alpha Centauri, a triple star system 4.22 light years
away. The red star at center is Proxima Centauri, the closest of the trio.
Credit: David Malin/UK Schmidt Telescope/DSS/AAO.)
The 100-Year Plan for Space Travel : Discovery News