Rob Swinney and Terry Regan attended a special event at the Scottish Dark Sky Observatory in August. Over two evenings the pair, representing both i4is and the British Interplanetary Society discussed the prospects of real interstellar flight in the near future.
Blog
The interstellar minimum
As a part of our educational initiatives, our team has recently put together a small test paper for starship design, known as ‘the interstellar minimum’ after the famous Russian physicist Lev Landau and his ‘theoretical minimum’ entrance exam for university degree programs.
Principium 10
Issue 10 of Principium, the quarterly publication of the Initiative and Institute for Interstellar Studies is now published.
Pluto flyby success
Yesterday the NASA New Horizons spacecraft successfully executed a flyby of the dwarf planet Pluto, one of the Trans-Neptunian objects, to within a distance of just over 12,500 km.
Principium 9
Issue 9 of Principium, the quarterly publication of the Initiative and Institute for Interstellar Studies is now published.
Project Dragonfly: Kickstarter campaign launched
Project Dragonfly is a feasibility study for an interstellar mission, conducted by small, distributed spacecraft, propelled primarily by laser sails. The spacecraft shall be capable of reaching the target star system within a century and be able to decelerate.
The Mariner program
The Mariner program was a joint NASA/JPL initiative which ran from 1962 to 1973 and saw robotic probes sent to nearly all of the planets of the solar system. The program achieved many firsts, including the first planetary flyby, the first pictures from another planet, the first planetary orbiter, the first gravity assist manoeuvre.
To the Voyagers and escaping from the sun
The Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft were launched in the 1970s. They are now heading out into interstellar space. One day, we may build faster spacecraft and overtake them.