4 spaceship concepts that could be a reality in the future

1. Will explode

Video recording: DrRhysy / YouTube

We all have at least a vague idea of ​​how destructive nuclear weapons are. It would seem that the use of such a dangerous thing is unlikely to lead to something good.

But physicists Stanislav Ulam and Freeman Dyson decidedG. Dyson. Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceshipthat this force can also be directed into a creative channel. And in the 60s, they proposed the idea of ​​an interstellar craft that would fly by propelling itself with controlled nuclear explosions.

Indeed, why carry huge tanks of fuel across the vastness of the Universe, if you can instead take with you a hundred or two atomic warheads?

The project was named Orion, or nuclear-powered spacecraft. The principle of operation of the unit is as follows.

A ship dangles in orbit, which intends to fly to the outskirts of the solar system or even to other stars. At the right moment, he releases a hydrogen bomb somewhere a hundred meters behind him, which explodes and directs the plane forward with a shock wave. When the momentum of the push begins to subside, the next bomb is fired, then another and another. It’s much more effective, you know, than it’s trite to fly in a rocket.

The idea itself was great. But the "explosion", as the development was dubbed, had many problems that could not be solved at this stage in the development of science and technology. It was not clear how to protect the rear of the ship from relativistic plasma, gamma rays and light flashes. It was assumed that the reflective plate would be covered with an ablative coating of graphite grease, which would also need to be refreshed after each explosion.

However, there are certain doubts that it is possible to design a shield that can withstand the detonation of hundreds of hydrogen bombs almost at point-blank range.

In addition, putting an apparatus with hundreds of atomic bombs on board into orbit was a rather risky task. In the 60s to radiation treated more simply than now - apparently, they believed that she kills only those who are afraid of her.

Initially, it was assumed that Orion would take off on its own, that is, make atomic explosions underneath it right in the atmosphere. Then the scientists still realized that they got excited and decided to detonate nuclear charges only in airless space.

But even in this case, if something does not go according to plan and a rocket with such a dangerous cargo does not reach space, a real radiation catastrophe will occur in the place where it falls. Therefore, the project was postponedG. Dyson. Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship on the back burner, and then, with the signing of the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963, it was completely closed.

Nevertheless, the idea of ​​an interstellar spacecraft accelerated by an atomic bomb still resurfaces in the minds of physicists.

2. Solar sailboat

Video: The Planetary Society / YouTube

The phrase "solar (or photonic) sail" sounds pretty fantastic. Nevertheless, this is a real and even already proven technology. In June 2019, the LightSail-2 probe with such an engine was successfully tested.What to Expect when LightSail 2 Launches into Space / Planetary Society in space.

The fact is that photons - the particles that make up light - can exert pressure when they come into contact with a surface. That is, sunlight in space is capable ofG. Vulpetti. Fast Solar Sailing: Astrodynamics of Special Sailcraft Trajectories push the sail in the same way as the wind does on Earth.

Only the sail will need to be created from an ultra-thin absorbent material - for example, from an aluminum film 30 nanometers thick. And it should be at least a few square kilometers in size.

For comparison, the area of ​​the LightSail-2 probe was only 32 square meters.

An apparatus with a solar sail does not have to carry tens and hundreds of tons of fuel with it: it will be able to fly wherever sunlight reaches. True, there are potential difficulties in the implementation of the concept.

The main one is how to protect the sail from damage. It is, after all, a razor-thin opaque canvas that has the strength of toilet paper and runs through emptiness at breakneck speed. Any counter speck of dust can make a decent hole in it.

3. Photon rocket

Such a spacecraft uses the same principle as a solar sailing ship, only the other way around. After all, if the photonsE. G. Haug. The ultimate limits of the relativistic rocket equation. The Planck photon rocket / Acta Astronautica are able to press on the surface they come into contact with, they can also throw off the engine that produces them. The result is a rocket that is propelled not by burning fuel, but by light.

Yes, in a vacuum even a simple flashlight, if given a very durable source of energy, will gradually accelerate, propelling itself with the emitted photons. It is enough to turn it with a light bulb against the target and turn on the light.

True, the flashlight will fly so slowly that it will take billions of years to accelerate to noticeable speeds. But this is a solvable issue - you just need to make the device bigger.

That's just powering such a headlamp will be another task. Physicist Daniel Tommasini from the University of Vigo has calculatedD. Tommasini. Comment on “the ultimate limits of the relativistic rocket equation. The Planck photon rocket ”/ Acta Astronauticathat even the most efficient nuclear reactor will only be able to accelerate a photonic ship by 0.02% of the speed of light.

This is somewhere around 60 km / s, which is already quite good for traveling through the solar system. But in order to wave to the nearest star, you will need energy sources better than a banal nuclear reactor. For example, a good supply of antimatter fuel or a pocket black hole.

When antimatter collides with matter, it releases a huge amount of pure energy. True, antimatter production is incredible expensive pleasure: the creation of a gram of antihydrogen NASA scientists have estimatedReaching for the Stars / Sciense NASA $ 62.5 trillion. And it will take tons of it to feed the annihilation reactor.

Black holes are even more efficient energy sources. They can be used to make the so-called singular, or collapsar, reactors, as Stephen Hawking argued. The black hole creates radiation, gradually evaporating.

CalculatedL. Crane. Are Black Hole Starships Possible / General Relativity and Quantum Cosmologythat one such hole weighing 606,000 tons will evaporate for about 3.5 years, creating 160 petawatts of energy during this time. Just a wild figure: enough energy to accelerate to 10% the speed of light in 20 days.

It remains only to figure out how to make a black hole and how to store it in a ship, and a compact battery of incredible power is ready. The main thing is not to stick your fingers in it, otherwise they will become singular, that is, will shrink to a point. Together with all other parts of the body.

4. Laser powered ship

Video: School of Physics - The University of Sydney / YouTube

The above concepts have a common problem: they will have to carry their energy sources with them. Rocket fuel, nuclear fuel, antimatter, or a black hole all weigh a lot and reduce the payload. We'll have to spend extra energy on moving this economy.

A solar sailboat will not have toG. A. Landis. Interstellar Flight by Particle Beam / NASA carry many tons of fuel, but it also has a limitation: it flies only where the solar wind blows, and it will not be so useful in interstellar space.

However, a ship accelerated by a laser has no such disadvantages. This is an analogue of a starship with a sail, but it will not be accelerated by the light of the sun, but by a gigawatt directional source of radiation.

The principle is this: an interstellar probe spreads the sail, and a huge laser accelerator on Earth or in a near-solar orbit shines on it and pushes it where it needs to be.

Let's say we accelerated to the required speed, but how to brake at the point of arrival at some Proxima Centauri or Barnard's Star? In advance, there is no way to drive a second laser of the same kind - we even built one in a near-solar orbit with difficulty.

But don't worry, physicists Jeffrey Landis and Carver Andrews have thought of this long ago.G. A. Landis. Optics and materials considerations for a laser-propelled lightsail / NTRS. If necessary, the apparatus can not only accelerate, but also decelerate with the help of the energy of photons sent to it from the laser.

We just pass them past the sail onto a huge mirror, they are reflected on the sail, but from the other side. And we get the opportunity to fly in the direction opposite to the laser. That is, we will be able not only to drive to distant stars at near-light speed, but also to return.

This mechanism of interstellar travel seems to be the most feasible. On April 12, 2016, Stephen Hawking proposedReaching for the Stars, Across 4.37 Light-Years / The New York Times send a group of probes weighing 0.5 g to Alpha Centauri, accelerated to 20% of the speed of light by a laser from the Earth's surface. In theory, it will take them 20 years to fly, and the data transmitted by the probes upon arrival at the site will travel back in the form of radio transmissions for another 5 years.

Myself Hawking did not live to see his idea realized, but a project called Breakthrough Starshot continues to be developed. It is funded by Russian businessman Yuri Milner and Meta owner Mark Zuckerberg. Perhaps the latter is simply looking for a way to return home.