"Interstellar. Science behind the scenes "- a book for those who are a little film

interstellar flight

At the first meeting, Professor Brand tells Cooper about the expeditions of the program "Lazarus", designed to find a new home to mankind. Cooper says: "In our solar system there is no habitable planets, stars and the nearest thousand years the way. It is, to put it mildly, pointless. So where did you get them sent off, Professor? "Why is it pointless (if the hand is not a wormhole), it is clear, if you think about how great the distance to the nearest stars.

Distance to the nearest stars

The closest (apart from the Sun) star in the system which can find a planet suitable for life - this is Tau Ceti. It is 11.9 light years from Earth; that is, traveling at light speed, before it can be reached in 11.9 years. Could theoretically be habitable planets that are closer to us, but not by much.

To estimate how far away the Tau Ceti, resort to analogies in a much smaller scale. Imagine that the distance from New York to Perth in Australia - approximately half of the Earth's circumference. The closest star to us (again not counting the Sun) - Proxima Centauri, 4.24 light years from the Earth, but there is no evidence that her side might be suitable for life on the planet. If the distance to Tau Ceti - the distance New York - Perth, then the distance to Proxima Centauri - is New York - Berlin. A little closer than Tau Ceti! Of all unmanned spaceships launched humans into space, then just got "Voyager 1", which is now in the 18 light-hours away from Earth. His journey lasted 37 years. If the distance to Tau Ceti - the distance New York - Perth, then from the Earth to the "Voyager 1", only three kilometers: from both the Empire State Building to the southern edge of Greenwich Village. This is much less than from New York to Perth.

From the Earth to Saturn closer - 200 meters, two blocks from the Empire State Building to Park Avenue. From Earth to Mars - 20 meters, and from the Earth to the Moon (the greatest distance at which still traveled people) - only seven centimeters! Compare seven centimeters and a half trip around the world! Now you understand what the jump to occur in technology for humanity to conquer the planet outside the solar system?

The flight speed in the XXI century

"Voyager-1" (having dispersed via gravitational sling around Saturn and Jupiter) moves away from the solar system at a speed of 17 kilometers per second. The "Interstellar" spaceship "Endyurans" travels from Earth to Saturn for two years, with an average speed of about 20 kilometers per second. Maximum speed attainable in the XXI century, using rocket motors in combination with gravitational slingshots, will be, in my opinion, about 300 kilometers per second. If we go to Proxima Centauri, at a speed of 300 kilometers per second, the trip will take 5,000 years, and the flight to Tau Ceti - 13 000 years. Something dolgovato. To get this far more quickly, you need something like a wormhole to the XXI century technology.

Technology of the distant future

Ingenious scientists and engineers put a lot of effort, developing the principles of the future technologies that would make flying at nearly the speed a reality. You will find enough information about these projects on the Internet. But I'm afraid, will host more than one hundred years before people will be able to bring them to life. However, they are, in my opinion, are convinced that for the overdeveloped civilizations travel at speeds of between one-tenth the speed of light and above are quite possible.

Here are three options for transportation to near-light speed, that I think are particularly interesting. *

* You can not leave without attention and engines, which are used as fuel elementary particles at speeds close to the speed of light. A plurality of such particles (e.g., gamma rays or pi-mesons) are formed in the processes of annihilation particle - antiparticle (e.g., electron - positron). The use of such technology, according to some scientists, will allow to reach speeds of about ⅔s. Unfortunately, antimatter annihilation processes for the production of too time-consuming and technically difficult. Approx. scientific. Ed.

Thermonuclear fusion

Nuclear fusion - the most popular of the three options. Research work on the creation of power plants on the basis of controlled thermonuclear fusion were started in 1950, and the complete success of these projects will be crowned until 2050. A century of scientific research!

It says something about the scale of the difficulties. Suppose that by 2050 the world will be a fusion power plant, but what about space flights on the fusion-drawn? Engines of the most successful designs will be able to provide a rate of about 100 kilometers per second, and by the end of this century and presumably up to 300 kilometers per second. However, near-light speeds will need a completely new principle of using thermonuclear reactions. The possibility of fusion can be assessed using simple calculations. When two atomic deuterium (heavy hydrogen) merge, forming a helium atom, about 0.0064 their weight (at rough rounding one percent) is transformed into energy. If convert it into kinetic energy (energy of motion) of the helium atom, that atom will acquire the speed of one-tenth the speed of light. **

** The formula for kinetic energy: Mv² / 2, where M - is the mass of the helium atom, and v - speed. Formula energy released: 0,0064 Mc², where c - velocity of light. (Here I use the famous Einstein's principle, which states that, if you convert mass into energy, the amount of energy will be equal to. Mass, multiplied by the square of the speed of light) equating to one another, we obtain: v² = 2 × 0,0064c², which implies that v is approximately equal to c / 10. Approx. author.

Therefore, if we transform all the energy obtained from fuel synthesis (deuterium) in directional motion of the spacecraft, it will reach a speed of about c / 10, and if to be smart - and several more. In 1968, Freeman Dyson, a great physicist, described and explored the primitive structure of the spacecraft on fusion-drawn capable - in the hands sufficiently advanced civilization - to provide such speed order. Fusion bombs ( "hydrogen" bomb) exploding hemispherical immediately behind the damper, the diameter of which - 20 kilometers. Explosions push the ship forward, driving him to the most daring Dyson estimated that up to one-thirtieth of the speed of light. An improved design may be able to do more. In 1968, Dyson came to the conclusion that the use of this type of engine will be possible not earlier than the end of XXII century, 150 years from now. I believe that this estimate is too optimistic.

[…]

No matter how attractive they may seem all the technology of the future, the word "future" is the key here. With the technology of the XXI century, we are unable to reach the other star systems in less than a thousand years the way. Our only, ghostly hope for interstellar flight - a wormhole in "Interstellar," or even some kind of limiting form of the curvature of space - time.

paper bookelectronic book