Reach the limit of the solar system in 5 years? NASA is studying a revolutionary technology
A new mode of propulsion would make it possible to reach 480,000 km/h to launch the conquest of deep space.
Space exploration comes up against many technical limits and in particular rocket propulsion methods which rely on jet engines. Only the Voyager 1 probe left the solar system, and it took 35 years to get there… An innovative approach is therefore necessary to venture to other stars or travel faster to the outer planets.
Facilitate space conquest
Through its NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program , the American space agency subsidizes projects that seem promising, such as this new propulsion architecture, dubbed Pellet-beam, which could in theory propel a one-ton spacecraft towards the planets. of the outer solar system in 3 years and even beyond the solar gravity in 15 years.
The concept imagined by Artur Davoyan, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of California (UCLA), is based on laser propulsion. A first device located in orbit of the Earth would project a beam of microscopic particles which would be heated by a powerful laser until some were transformed into plasma, so as to reach a speed of 120 km/second. These particles would then strike the solar sail of the main ship propelling it to 480,000 kilometers per hour. For comparison, the Voyager 1 probe travels at 61,000 km/h.
" The particle beam aims to transform the way deep space is explored by enabling rapid transit missions to very distant destinations ," said Davoyan. “ It is important to note that, unlike other concepts, the particle beam can propel heavy spacecraft, which greatly expands the field of possible missions” .
Source : websites