The answer, the researchers say, is nanoscale patterning ( nanolithography).
#Ftl faster than light ship guide how to
The second paper focuses on how to dissipate the heat from the laser. Think of propane tanks or even fuel tanks on rockets. And we know that lightweight, pressurized containers should be spherical or cylindrical to avoid tears and cracks. Laser photons will fill the sail much like air inflates a beach ball. Matthew Campbell, lead author on the first paper, said: It’s a relatively easy concept to grasp, but we needed to do some very complex math to actually show how these materials would behave at this scale. The intuition here is that a very tight sail, whether it’s on a sailboat or in space, is much more prone to tears. Such a sail could withstand the strain of hyper-acceleration, a pull thousands of times that of Earth’s gravity. One solution, the subject of the first paper, is to have the sail billow out like a parachute instead of just remaining flat. To achieve this, however, the sail must be able to withstand the danger of tearing or melting. The light intensity would be millions of times greater than using only sunlight. But Starshot’s new design would use ground-based lasers to help push the sail to faster speeds.
Tearing and meltingĮarlier versions of solar sails relied on sunlight alone to power them. It is part of the Alpha Centauri system, making it a triple star system. The very faint Proxima Centauri is marked by a red circle. Here we see the bright stars Alpha Centauri (which is really 2 stars, Alpha Centauri A and B) and Beta Centauri to the right. That’s fast enough to reach Alpha Centauri in 20 years. With the use of lasers, these researchers say, this tiny probe from Earth could travel up to 1/5 the speed of light. It is composed of ultrathin sheets of aluminum oxide and molybdenum disulfide. The sail, about 10 feet (3 meters) wide, is incredibly thin: 1,000 times thinner than a sheet of paper. The idea of a light sail has been around for some time, but we’re just now figuring out how to make sure those designs survive the trip. Reaching another star within our lifetimes is going to require relativistic speed, or something approaching the speed of light. Igor Bargatin at Penn Engineering explained: The new studies focus on a stronger, more durable solar sail. But, in practice, the sail needs to survive the long journey to Alpha Centauri. In theory, a solar sail spacecraft should work for star travel. Artist’s concept of a previous solar sail design. It aimed for a speed of 20% of the speed of light, with the goal of reaching the Alpha Centauri system – and, presumably, its newly discovered planets Proxima b and Proxima c – within 20 years.īut is it possible? Researchers have been trying to answer that question.
He founded a new and ambitious initiative called Breakthrough Starshot, with the intention to pour $100 million into proof-of-concept studies for an entirely new technology for star travel. The concept stems from an announcement in April 2016, by Russian high-tech billionaire Yuri Milner. Both papers can be found in ACS Publications, published on Decemand January 11, 2022, respectively. The researchers have published two new peer-reviewed papers outlining the concept. If it works, it could reach Alpha Centauri in as little as 20 years. Their new concept uses a new, more durable solar sail. But in February 2022, researchers at Penn Engineering and the Breakthrough Starshot initiative said they’re working on a new method of traveling to the nearest star system. Ordinary rockets won’t work for star travel. How soon could we reach Alpha Centauri? Could we reach any of the nearest stars, in a reasonable amount of time? A new and more durable solar sail spacecraft might be part of the answer. It’s the nearest star system to our sun at 4.3 light-years away. But, if we were to plan a trip, Alpha Centauri is an obvious target. And that’s why NASA has no plans at present to send a spacecraft to any of the several thousand known planets beyond our solar system. Image via Masumi Shibata/ courtesy of Breakthrough Initiatives/ Penn Engineering. The shape and composition of the new solar sail were recently redesigned, so the sail won’t melt or tear during the acceleration phase. The craft uses an Earth-based laser array to get up enough speed to travel to the next-nearest star. Artist’s conception of a starship – called the Starshot Lightsail – accelerating away from Earth.
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