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Interstellar Travel
Propulsion, Life Support, Communications, and the Long Journey
- 1st Edition - May 23, 2024
- Editors: Les Johnson, Kenneth Roy
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 3 2 3 - 9 1 2 8 0 - 8
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 3 2 3 - 9 1 2 8 1 - 5
Interstellar Travel: Propulsion, Life Support, Communications, and the Long Journey addresses the technical challenges that must be overcome to make such journeys possible.… Read more
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Request a sales quoteInterstellar Travel: Propulsion, Life Support, Communications, and the Long Journey addresses the technical challenges that must be overcome to make such journeys possible. Leading experts in the fields of space propulsion, power, communication, navigation, crew selection, safety and health provide detailed information about state-of-the-art technologies and approaches for each challenge, along with possible methods based on real science and engineering. This book offers in-depth, up-to-date and realistic technical and scientific considerations in the pursuit of interstellar travel and will be an essential reference for scientists, engineers, researchers and academics working on, or interested in, space development and space technologies. With a renewed interest in space exploration and development evidenced by the rise of the commercial space sector and various governments now planning to send humans back to the moon and to Mars, there is also growing interest in taking the next steps beyond the solar system and to the ultimate destination – planets circling other stars. With the rapid growth in the number of known exoplanets, people are now asking how we might make journeys to visit them.
- Discusses the technical challenges that must be overcome to mount interstellar missions
- Features various aspects of interstellar travel by the world’s recognized leading experts in the field
- Provides referenceable data and analysis for both new and experienced researchers in the interstellar and deep-space exploration fields
- Cover image
- Title page
- Table of Contents
- Copyright
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Propulsion options
- Abstract
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Chemical rockets
- 3 Getting an assist from gravity
- 4 Nuclear fission propulsion systems
- 5 Nuclear fusion propulsion
- 6 Antimatter propulsion
- 7 Propulsion without propellant
- 8 Concluding remarks
- References
- Chapter 2 Electrical power options for interstellar spacecraft
- Abstract
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Power sources—Current and near-term
- 3 Power sources—Far-term
- 4 Speculative concepts
- 5 Concluding remarks
- References
- Chapter 3 Crew health—Psychological, biological, and medical issues and the need for a systems approach
- Abstract
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The main health and performance hazards of spaceflight
- 3 The main health and performance concerns
- 4 Mitigation possibilities
- 5 The bigger picture
- References
- Chapter 4 Interstellar life support
- Abstract
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The big picture: Humans with a life support system is the payload
- 3 Life support major elements
- 4 Major elements—Definitions, descriptions, and examples
- 5 Introduction to long-duration life support
- 6 Summary of state of the art of long-duration life support
- 7 Holes in the picture
- 8 Speculations on the future evolution of life support
- 9 Conclusion
- References
- Chapter 5 Timing relationships and resulting communications challenges in relativistic travel
- Abstract
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Travelers’ clocks in relativistic travel
- 2 Spacecraft trajectories
- 3 Relativistic effects on spacecraft trajectories
- 4 Communication with a spacecraft
- 5 Analysis
- 6 Canonical mission trajectory
- 7 Conclusions
- Appendix A Nomenclature
- Appendix B Analytical results for indefinite acceleration
- References
- Chapter 6 Prospects for human hibernation
- Abstract
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Overview
- 3 Maintaining the human body
- 4 Approaches to human stasis
- 5 Achieving limited-duration stasis
- 6 Recent research and advancements
- 7 Long-duration stasis for interstellar travel
- 8 Summary
- References
- Chapter 7 Ship governance and culture
- Abstract
- 1 Introduction and key assumptions
- 2 Output goals: Safety, efficiency, and freedom
- 3 Basic governance models
- 4 The role of innovation and its rewards
- 5 Ultimate conclusions
- References
- Chapter 8 Spare parts and additive manufacturing
- Abstract
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Sparing philosophy and mission architecture decisions
- 3 Technology needs for interstellar and deep space missions
- References
- Chapter 9 Optimal crew size at both departure and arrival
- Abstract
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Population size on interstellar vessels
- 3 Alternative approaches for interstellar transportation of humans
- 4 Population size at the target destination
- 5 Summary and conclusions
- References
- Chapter 10 Artificial intelligence: Useful crewman, terrible master, benign leader, or the actual payload, and do we get to choose?
- Abstract
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Interstellar travel modes
- 3 AI roles in interstellar travel
- 4 AGI system architecture
- 5 AUDREY—A potential architectural blueprint for building AGI for interstellar travel
- 6 AGI for interstellar travel
- 7 Summary
- Disclaimer
- References
- Chapter 11 Maintaining communication with Earth during an interstellar flyby mission
- Abstract
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Mission architectures
- 2 Vast interstellar distances
- 3 Choice of wavelength
- 4 Layered architecture
- 5 Signal photon efficiency
- 6 Background radiation
- 7 Transmit/receive aperture size and pointing accuracy
- 8 Transmit power and aperture/collector sizes
- 9 Outages
- 10 Downlink operation time
- 11 Modulation code: PPM
- 12 Achieving reliability
- 13 Conclusions
- Appendix A Nomenclature
- Appendix B Photon efficiency bounds and bandwidth
- References
- Appendix General relativistic faster-than-light propulsion for interstellar flight
- 1 Introduction
- 2 General relativistic FTL propulsion—These are the “space warps”
- 3 The two classes of FTL space warps: Traversable wormholes and warp drives
- 4 The curvature invariants for Lorentzian traversable wormholes and warp drives
- 5 The allowable sources of matter for constructing FTL spacetimes
- 6 The energetics of FTL propulsion
- 7 Construction of traversable wormholes and warp drives
- 8 The problems of navigation, guidance, control, and stability in FTL propulsion concepts
- 9 Conclusion
- Acknowledgments
- References
- Further reading
- Index
- No. of pages: 440
- Language: English
- Edition: 1
- Published: May 23, 2024
- Imprint: Elsevier
- Paperback ISBN: 9780323912808
- eBook ISBN: 9780323912815
LJ
Les Johnson
Les Johnson is a physicist and NASA technologist at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center where he is the Principal Investigator for flight demonstration of advanced space technology systems including solar sails, power systems, and most recently, space based solar power. He was the co-investigator on the Japanese-led T-Rex space tether experiment that flew in August 2010, the Principal Investigator for the NASA ProSEDS space experiment, received NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal three times, and holds 3 space technology patents. His book, Solar Sails, a Novel Approach to Interplanetary Travel was favorably reviewed in the journal Nature (10 April 2008). Graphene: The Superstrong, Superthin, and Superversatile Material That Will Revolutionize the World also appeared in Nature (25 January 2018) and was excerpted in American Scientist (May-June 2018). Les is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics, the British Interplanetary Society, the National Space Society, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and MENSA – and is the Program Chair of the Interstellar Research Group.
KR