Scientists discover how to build a spacecraft that crosses the solar system in record time

Scientists discover how to build a spacecraft that crosses the solar system in record time

Scientists discover how to build a spacecraft that crosses the solar system in record time

Scientists claim to have discovered the basic foundations for building a spacecraft that would reach another solar system during our lifetime. February 19, 2022, Sputnik Brazil

2022-02-19 T22: 13-0300

2022-02-19 T22: 13-0300

2022-02-20T07: 50-0300

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Breakthrough Starshot researchers have discovered a way to build a spacecraft capable of traveling at one fifth the speed of light to reach Alpha Centauri in just 20 years. Instead of using the thousands of years that would be required with today’s chemical engines. If not, nuclear propulsion spacecraft are used, and a trip to a planet orbiting Centauri, at Alpha Centauri, would likely require thousands of years. For example, Voyager 1, which is now traveling at 17,043 km/s relative to the Sun, will reach Proxima Centauri in 73,775 years. To achieve this, the scientists’ goal is to travel at one-fifth the speed of light using a laser string. , located on a ground station, to power a microscopically thick solar sail only three meters in diameter. Like a space sailboat, such a sail would drag microscopic-sized probes to Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to Earth, located just 4.37 light-years away. At the speed of one-fifth of light, the Starshot spacecraft will reach its destination in about 20 years. Once there, its hypothetical signal will reach our planet in just under four and a half years. The project, which has former NASA Research Center director Pete Worden among its ranks, has published studies solving two fundamental problems of this technology. The first study indicates what these solar sails really should look like. Contrary to ideas we had until recently, sails would not be flat, quite the contrary, they would have to be blown like the sails of a sailboat to keep them from breaking, with a curve as deep as its width. Only then, the study says, will it be able to withstand the excessive acceleration to which it will be subjected. According to the other study authors, Matthew Campbell of the University of Pennsylvania, “Laser photons will fill a sail, just as air fills a beach ball.” sail idea [solar] The light has been around for a while, but we just figured out how to ensure this project will survive the flight,” says another scientist involved in the study. The project’s second major achievement is the heat dissipation from lasers that will drive the sail to speed up the sail materials , which will be made from sheets of aluminum oxide and molybdenum disulfide, will not withstand the energy buildup caused by the laser alone. If the sails absorb even a small portion of the incident laser light, it will heat up This is why scientists are suggesting ways to “maximize their ability to radiate heat.” , which is the only mode of heat transfer available in space.” The solution lies in nanotechnology. Only by increasing the sail’s effective surface area using nano-texture engraving will it be possible to effectively cool the sail, allowing it to travel relatively quickly without being torn to shreds.