Project Icarus: Optimisation of nuclear fusion propulsion for interstellar missions

Long, K. F.; Obousy, Richard; Hein, Andreas M.

doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2011.01.010

Cited by 23 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Freeland and Lamontagne 2015). Both approaches will continue to be aided by improved understanding of controlled nuclear fusion gained from experimental facilities designed to investigate the potential of fusion power on Earth, and continued refinement of the design concepts may be expected (Long 2016).…”

Section: Nuclear Rocketsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct Exoplanet Investigation Using Interstellar Space Probes

Crawford

2018

Handbook of Exoplanets

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Experience in exploring our own solar system has shown that direct investigation of planetary bodies using space probes invariably yields scientific knowledge not otherwise obtainable. In the case of exoplanets, such direct investigation may be required to confirm inferences made by astronomical observations, especially with regard to planetary interiors, surface processes, geological evolution, and possible biology. This will necessitate transporting sophisticated scientific instruments across interstellar space, and some proposed methods for achieving this with flight-times measured in decades are reviewed. It is concluded that, with the possible exception of very lightweight (and thus scientifically limited) probes accelerated to velocities of ~0.1c with powerful Earth-based lasers, achieving such a capability may have to wait until the development of a space-based civilization capable of leveraging the material and energy resources of the solar system.

show abstract

Section: Nuclear Rocketsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct Exoplanet Investigation Using Interstellar Space Probes

Crawford

2018

Handbook of Exoplanets

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The Daedalus mission weight for Barnard's Star was about 53000 tonnes which may present orbital construction challenges in the nearfuture. Project Icarus proposed replacing the electron beam driver with laser and decreasing the nuclear pulse to 150 Hz with smaller pellets [25]. The fusion-driven rocket partially solves the problem by using metal liners to both contain the plasma and conversion to thrust [34].…”

Section: The Challenges Of Propulsionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Articial Intelligence and Brain Simulation Probes for Interstellar Expeditions

Özkural¹

2018

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We introduce a mission design for an interstellar expedition to nearby earth-like exoplanets, which our analysis determined to be Tau Ceti and Gliese 667C, at the time of analysis in 2013. We review the research problems in propulsion and AGI that must be addressed to launch an AI guided interstellar probe within 100 years. We propose a new semi-autonomous agent approach for intelligent control of the spacecraft. We introduce the concept of a semi-autonomous agent as having built-in safety guarantees that constrain operation. An autonomous agent case study is presented formulating the objective, constraints, AGI implementation of the agent based on Solomono's Alpha architecture, and adding specicity. We discuss the training required to reach human-level and trans-sapient levels of intelligence which corresponds to an entire crew of AI experts specialized in elds such as astrophysics, astromechanics, astrobiology, quantum physics, computer science, molecular biology, and so forth. We project the feasibility of the human-level AI technology based on empirical ndings in neuroscience, and  nd that it should be feasible by 2030. We analyze Solomono's innity point hypothesis in light of Koomey's law about energy eciency of computing and nd that the trends in 2013 indicated an early singularity by 2035, which implies that we might encounter physical bottlenecks which will decelerate computing technology improvements signicantly. We recommend thus year 2040 for launching the probe by which date other required technologies will have been developed. We discuss the scenario of a virtual crew made of brain simulations, which is a bio-information based AI approach. We detail the subsystems of command and control, communication, scientic instrumentation, power, propulsion, navigation, and shielding. We propose a variation of ICAN-II/AIMStar propulsion which uses a positron source instead of anti-protons to initiate micro-fusion reactions. We combine the positron initiated fusion pulse propulsion scheme with a miniaturized version of the Daedelus fusion thruster obtaining high performance. We derive two mission proles one for fusion pulse propulsion, and the yet hypothetical Q-Thruster. Fusion thruster requires 132.2 years for Tau Ceti, and 233.2 years for Gliese 667C, while Q-Thruster takes only 42.3 years for Tau Ceti, and 62.5 years for Gliese 667C. We also discuss extended roles for intelligent interstellar probes such as self-reproduction via nanotechnology, refueling, construction, robotic bodies, and transmission of brain simulations.

show abstract

“…Missions to neighboring star systems require high cruising speeds in order to reduce the total trip duration. There have been proposals based on fusion propulsion that aim to keep the total mission duration underneath 100 years [3], [13], which means that an average speed bigger than 0.0435 c is necessary in the case of Alpha Centauri [14]. The present analysis focuses on missions with the objective of performing scientific measurements in the target system, hence requiring orbital insertion around a star or a planet.…”

Section: Combination Of Msail and Esailmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the same time, there has to be some finite distance available for the acceleration and cruising phases, which are not part of the optimization and this was estimated equal to 1.5 light years. For that reason, the constraint was defined as in Equation 14:…”

Section: Optimization Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combining magnetic and electric sails for interstellar deceleration

Perakis

Hein²

2016

Acta Astronautica

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The main benefit of an interstellar mission is to carry out in-situ measurements within a target star system. To allow for extended in-situ measurements, the spacecraft needs to be decelerated. One of the currently most promising technologies for deceleration is the magnetic sail which uses the deflection of interstellar matter via a magnetic field to decelerate the spacecraft. However, while the magnetic sail is very efficient at high velocities, its performance decreases with lower speeds. This leads to deceleration durations of several decades depending on the spacecraft mass. Within the context of Project Dragonfly, initiated by the Initiative of Interstellar Studies (i4is), this paper proposes a novel concept for decelerating a spacecraft on an interstellar mission by combining a magnetic sail with an electric sail. Combining the sails compensates for each technologys shortcomings: A magnetic sail is more effective at higher velocities than the electric sail and vice versa. It is demonstrated that using both sails sequentially outperforms using only the magnetic or electric sail for various mission scenarios and velocity ranges, at a constant total spacecraft mass. For example, for decelerating from 5% c, to interplanetary velocities, a spacecraft with both sails needs about 29 years, whereas the electric sail alone would take 35 years and the magnetic sail about 40 years with a total spacecraft mass of 8250 kg. Furthermore, it is assessed how the combined deceleration system affects the optimal overall mission architecture for different spacecraft masses and cruising speeds. Future work would investigate how operating both systems in parallel instead of sequentially would affect its performance. Moreover, uncertainties in the density of interstellar matter and sail properties need to be explored.

show abstract

Project Icarus: Optimisation of nuclear fusion propulsion for interstellar missions

Cited by 23 publications

References 2 publications

Direct Exoplanet Investigation Using Interstellar Space Probes

Direct Exoplanet Investigation Using Interstellar Space Probes

Articial Intelligence and Brain Simulation Probes for Interstellar Expeditions

Combining magnetic and electric sails for interstellar deceleration

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About