30
votes
Accepted
How feasible would this mission to Proxima Centauri be?
Unless I am mistaken, the amount of speed a gravitational slingshot can add is less than twice the orbital speed of the planet being used. Mercury's orbital speed is the fastest, at a little over 47 ...
- 10.3k
9
votes
Closed Loop Space propulsion
That looks like a fairly standard "I don't understand magnets"-engine, with a side order of "I don't understand conservation of momentum". Don't spend too much time thinking about ...
- 14.6k
4
votes
How easy would it be for an interstellar probe to identify planets in another star system?
This is a very broad question but there are several things that can be said.
For solar-system based observations, very large space-based interferometric telescopes (see also the additional links at ...
- 10.3k
4
votes
Accepted
How would we power probes or spaceships over hundered or thousands of years?
Americium-241 is a RTG candidate for longer interstellar missions. It has a much lower power density (a quarter of Pu-238) but it’s half-life is 432 years (vs 88yr for Pu-238). If you want it to ...
- 17.7k
3
votes
Using today's technology, is interstellar navigation possible?
*Question: Using today’s technology, is interstellar navigation possible?
Answer: Yes. It is even possible with yesterday's technology
Navigation: "the … activity of accurately ascertaining one'...
- 17.7k
3
votes
Will this homopolar motor self rotate in a vacuum?
Edit: Maybe Not
The classic homopolar motor will spin like any other motor in zero G, with the two halves spinning in opposite directions, due to conservation of momentum, then as it runs flat and ...
- 21.4k
2
votes
Are there any modern studies for how to colonize an exoplanet involving interstellar travel?
The first step in colonizing an exoplanet would be to learn more about that planet and its host star. There are at least 2 types of proposals to do this:
Using the Sun as a lens. This would require ...
- 121
1
vote
Maximum velocity achieved by solar sail
6.47% speed of light is the engineering limit.
Here are two key factors that determines the terminal velocity $v$.
$\sigma$: areal density of the solar sail.
$r_0$: perihelion distance.
For solar ...
- 139
1
vote
Orion Project (NPP) Pusher Plate computer models and survivability?
Why not replace the pusher plate with an electromagnet to capture the momentum of charged particles with a magnetic field without being exposed directly to it? That way no erosion if the explosion is ...
- 83
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible