Adam Hibberd I provide for you a chart of some missions to 1I/’Oumuamua investigated by Project Lyra. The green rows use chemical propulsion, the blue use nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) and the pink exploit laser sails. This table will be updated when new research becomes available. For more detail, zoom in with your mouse (Ctrl+scroll […]
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Swarming Proxima: i4is wins NASA NIAC Grant
In collaboration with Space Initiatives Inc., we have succeeded in securing a prestigious NIAC grant. “Thomas Eubanks, Space Initiatives Inc. in Florida, believes a swarm of tiny spacecraft could travel to Proxima Centauri this century, sending back data about the Sun’s nearest interstellar neighbor using a novel laser sailcraft and laser communications.” More information here.
Project Lyra: A Solar Oberth at 10 Solar Radii
Adam Hibberd I have recently returned my attention to the Solar Oberth mission to ‘Oumuamua. For readers not familiar with this celestial body, 1I/’Oumuamua was the first interstellar object to be discovered passing through our Solar System, is now out of range of our most powerful telescopes and has left scientists with many questions in […]
Members Newsletter – December
Happy New Year!The i4is team wishes you a happy and prosperous New Year. Here’s to hoping 2024 brings us more interstellar innovations and breakthroughs than ever before. I4is Science Fiction Book Club – Next meeting 11th JanuaryFor the next meeting, the i4is SF Book Club members are considering again ‘The Road to Science Fiction Volume […]
Principium 43
The November 2023 issue of Principium is now available and has already gone out to subscribers. LEAD FEATUREIRG23: The Summaries FEATURENatural Geo-engineering of the early Earth NEWS FEATURES – IRG 23X-ray and γ-ray Beam Interstellar Communication and Implications for SETI, Applications and Design Guidelines for High Power Lasers in Space Exploration, Silence is Golden: SETI […]
Members Newsletter – November
I4is Science Fiction AnthologyYou will have seen from earlier Newsletters that we are still looking for short stories for the upcoming “The i4is Science Fiction Anthology.” To ensure a level playing field, submissions must be in Shunn’s Modern Manuscript format, the widespread standard for fiction submissions. https://www.shunn.net/format/story/ (Make sure you click the Modern tab.) Further […]
Swarming Proxima
Adam Hibberd Breakthrough Starshot is the Initative to send a probe at 20% light speed (0.2c) to the nearest neighbouring star Proxima Centauri. But how do we achieve such a high speed? It turns out that if we have an extremely powerful laser (and exponential advances in tech over the next decades will mean that […]
PROJECT HYPERION: THE HOLLOW ASTEROID STARSHIP – DISSEMINATION OF AN IDEA
Andreas M. Hein Asteroid starship arriving at an alien world by David A. Hardy Source: https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1618045 A large space mirror heats up an asteroid, slowly melting it. Water, which was injected into the center of the body expands, blows up the melted material, creating the shape of a balloon. After cooling down, rotation is induced […]