The pleasant surprise
is that this may even be feasible enough to spend money on now. I do think however that we will be flying MFEV’s ( An MFEV is a magnetic field exclusion vessel described in my 2007 article on reverse
engineering the UFO in Viewzone – arclein ) long before any of all this maters
too much. Yet energy supply is always
out there also as a problem and he has correctly recognized the need to operate
at one g acceleration during any
significant trip distanced.
The MFEV should also naturally
exclude cosmic rays and need to be developed regardless.
This is also a hint
that laser technology is reaching power output thresholds to allow these
speculations.
Cosmic Concept:
Laser-Powered Space Travel
To
travel to outer solar system and eventually to the stars, we're going to need
some big breakthroughs in propulsion,
protection from cosmic radiation, and more. Our Cosmic Concepts series
looks at the far-out ideas that will take us there.
October
9, 2013 9:49
Young
K. Bae wants us to travel to the moon within hours, and to Mars within days.
Rocket fuel won't allow our spacecraft to reach those speeds—Bae wants to do it
with lasers.
Bae is the CEO of the Y.K. Bae Corporation, which researches space exploration and green technology with an eye toward applying high-powered photons. While many laser propulsion systems have been proposed, Bae's particular approach centers on firing the laser into a cavity between two mirrors. It started as another project entirely: the photon tether formation flight, seeking a way to move large space structures without contamination from rocket plumes. The lasers would be a smaller part of the system used to inflate other parts. When the results went far better than expected, Bae knew he had something else on his hands.
The concept of a photonic laser thrust system goes something like this: A laser is generated in a cavity between two mirrors, and fired between them continuously. The interaction of the photons between these two plates is then fired out of the launch platform. The platform remains in orbit, controlled by conventional thrusters. However, it fires at a craft, which does the brunt of the actual space travel. By continuously firing a laser at the craft, you can push it and allow it to build up momentum without chemical or nuclear fuel. And by reducing the need for fuel consumption, you also reduce the overall weight of the mission, creating more room for payloads, humans, and creature comforts.
"The initial scope was just inflating a larger structure with very modest photon thrust," Bae said. "That suddenly disappeared, and the wider horizon opened, which is that 'wow, this can be used for moving massive objects.'"
Bae has been working on the concept for years, originally receiving NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) funding in 2007 before that program was discontinued. But with NIAC's recent resurrection, Bae's research is back on track.
His big-picture plan starts with using laser propulsion in the coming decades on near-Earth space missions, journeys to the moon, and visits to near-Earth asteroids. Within 50 years, he hopes for phase two: Mars. After that comes the gas and ice giants in the outer solar system and their intriguing moons. And then, beyond: "We envision that humans can fly to other stars or other planets in other solar systems," he says.
One of the most intriguing parts about using laser propulsion for deep space journeys: There's the potential for in-flight gravity, or something like it. The system would create acceleration similar to 1g, meaning that astronauts would have their feet on the ground. "Once you accelerate, then that acceleration acts like gravity," Bae says. "Your feet will be toward the laser because of the acceleration. That way, I think the Star Trek–type of travel is possible."
What's holding Bae back? For one, you'd need tremendous power to realize such a mission with current technology. For even near-Earth and lunar missions, Bae estimates a requirement of 1 gigawatt of power, requiring a large amount of power to be generated by solar or nuclear power to generate the thrust
.
Then there are the lasers themselves. As the distance between the photonic source and the craft increases, the signal spreads wider and wider, decreasing the precision of the guidance and reducing overall thrust. Think of it like shining a flashlight. Up close, the light is easy to narrowly direct to a particular object. But shining it on something farther away spreads the light out more, covering a wider distance but with less luminosity. Now, for a laser that's supposed to be shooting precise guidance lasers, this becomes a problem. So while near-Earth and Martian flights will be okay, problems will arise getting farther and farther away. One compensation is the idea of doing smaller platforms to create a "photonic railway," each acting as a sort of refueling station in between to get the craft where it needs to be. But Bae wants to also control the problem of the lasers spreading themselves too thin. Bae has his eye on research into Bessel beams, which don't diffract, and therefore could be fired at a spacecraft from farther away.
Then there are the lasers themselves. As the distance between the photonic source and the craft increases, the signal spreads wider and wider, decreasing the precision of the guidance and reducing overall thrust. Think of it like shining a flashlight. Up close, the light is easy to narrowly direct to a particular object. But shining it on something farther away spreads the light out more, covering a wider distance but with less luminosity. Now, for a laser that's supposed to be shooting precise guidance lasers, this becomes a problem. So while near-Earth and Martian flights will be okay, problems will arise getting farther and farther away. One compensation is the idea of doing smaller platforms to create a "photonic railway," each acting as a sort of refueling station in between to get the craft where it needs to be. But Bae wants to also control the problem of the lasers spreading themselves too thin. Bae has his eye on research into Bessel beams, which don't diffract, and therefore could be fired at a spacecraft from farther away.
Bae isn't worried. He cites Moore's Law frequently, which lays out the way computers exponentially increase in capacity over time. He believes that once the ball is rolling on laser propulsion technology, increasing sophistication will follow, and quickly. "High-power laser technology and high-power optics technology are rapidly evolving," he said.
"Eventually, once we utilize resources in the solar system, then we'll have the power to go to the other stars or planets in other solar systems," he says. "That's stage four, and I'm thinking that will happen in another 100 years or so."
Read more: Cosmic Concept: Laser-Powered Space Travel - Popular Mechanics
Follow us: @PopMech on Twitter | popularmechanics on Facebook
Visit us at PopularMechanics.com
No comments:
Post a Comment