Very Small Interstellar Spacecraft

Statistics – Applications

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Spaceborne And Space Research Instruments, Apparatus, And Components, Astronomical And Space-Research Instrumentation, Particle Emission, Solar Wind, Solar Wind Plasma, Sources Of Solar Wind

Scientific paper

This paper considers lower limits of length scale in spacecraft: interstellar vehicles consisting of little more material than found in a typical integrated-circuit chip. Some fundamental scaling principles are introduced to show how the dynamics of the very small can be used to realize interstellar travel with minimal advancements in technology. Our recent study for the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts provides an example: the use of the Lorentz force that acts on electrically charged spacecraft traveling through planetary and stellar magnetospheres. Schaffer and Burns, among others, have used Cassini and Voyager imagery to show that this interaction is responsible for some of the resonances in the orbital dynamics of dust in Jupiter's and Saturn's rings. The Lorentz force turns out to vary in inverse proportion to the square of this characteristic length scale, making it a more effective means of propelling tiny spacecraft than solar sailing. Performance estimates, some insight into plasma interactions, and some hardware concepts are offered. The mission architectures considered here involve the use of these propellantless propulsion techniques for acceleration within our solar system and deceleration near the destination. Performance estimates, some insight into plasma interactions, and some hardware concepts are offered. The mission architectures considered here involve the use of these propellantless propulsion techniques for acceleration within our solar system and deceleration near the destination. We might envision a large number of such satellites with intermittent, bursty communications set up as a one-dimensional network to relay signals across great distances using only the power likely from such small spacecraft. Conveying imagery in this fashion may require a long time because of limited power, but the prospect of imaging another star system close-up ought to be worth the wait.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Very Small Interstellar Spacecraft does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Very Small Interstellar Spacecraft, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Very Small Interstellar Spacecraft will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-734725

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.