In less than 5 years, a revolutionary NASA propulsion concept might reach interstellar space.

 

(Eduard Muzhevskyi/Science Photo Library/Getty Images)

The historic Voyager 1 probe took 35 years to complete the task, but a recently proposed propulsion system has the potential to beam a heavy spacecraft to the edge of our Solar System in less than 5 years.

An early-stage US$175,000 NASA grant for further research of the "pellet-beam" propulsion concept was given earlier this year.

 

To be clear, the concept presently only consists of calculations on paper, so we shouldn't get overly optimistic just yet.

 

However, it has drawn interest not only for its potential to send humans into interstellar space within a human lifetime, which is something that conventional, chemical-fueled rockets cannot do, but also for its assertion that it can do so with much bigger craft.

The proposal's main researcher, aerospace engineer Artur Davoyan from the University of California, Los Angeles, says it "examines a new propulsion architecture for fast transit of heavy (1 ton and more) freights across the Solar System and to space medium."

The Breakthrough Starshot initiative, which is working on a "light-sail" propulsion device, served as some of the inspiration for the pellet-beam idea. Theoretically, a small probe could travel to nearby Proxima Centauri in just 20 years with the aid of millions of lasers.

 

The new proposal looks at how to move bigger objects and begins with a similar idea: throw fuel at a rocket rather than blast it out of one. After all, if we want to one day explore or colonise the planets outside of our Solar System ourselves, a small probe isn't exactly what we need.

The conceptual propulsion system needs two spaceships to function: one that travels to interstellar space and another that orbits the Earth.

 

A beam of minuscule microscopic particles would be fired at the interstellar spaceship by the spacecraft orbiting the Earth.

By heating those particles with lasers, a process known as laser ablation causes some of them to vaporise into plasma, accelerating the pellets even more.

Illustration of how the pellet-beam propulsion system could work. (Artur Davoyan)

These pellets, which could travel at velocities of up to 120 km/s (75 miles/s), could either strike the interstellar spacecraft's sail or repel a magnet inside of it, accelerating it to great speeds that would enable it to whizz out of our heliosphere, the bubble of solar wind surrounding our Solar System.

 

Davoyan claims that using the pellet-beam, it will take less than a year to reach the outer planets, three years to travel 100 AU (astronomical units), and fifteen years to travel 500 AU to the solar gravitational lens.

An astronomical unit, or AU for short, approximately corresponds to the 150 million km distance between the Earth and the Sun. (93 million miles).

 

The Voyager 1 spacecraft entered interstellar space in 2012, at a distance of about 122 AU, after travelling for 35 years.

 

A pellet-beamed spacecraft weighing 1 ton could accomplish the same task in less than 5 years, according to current estimates.

Since the pellets can be propelled by relatively low-power lasers, Davoyan explained to Matt Williams of Universe Today back in February, his team chose the pellet method rather than relying solely on lasers as other sail projects do.

 

They currently believe that a 10-megawatt laser stream will be sufficient.

 

Davoyan told Williams, "Different a laser beam, pellets do not diverge as quickly, letting us to rush a heavier spacecraft.

Because they are much heavier than photons, "the pellets carry more momentum and can transfer a higher force to a spacecraft."

 

Of course, all of this is just speculation at this point.However, the Innovative and Advanced Concepts (NIAC) funding from NASA's Phase I will be helpful.

 

The project was one of 14 that received funding at this early stage, and the subsequent move will be to conduct experiments to demonstrate proof of concept.

"In Phase I effort," says Davoyan, "we will show viability of the proposed propulsion concept by performing detailed modelling of different subsystems of the proposed propulsion architecture, as well as by performing proof of concept experimental studies."

 

We'll keep a close eye on the development.

Reference: sciencealert.com