Two vital questions often get debated in the interstellar community, how much will an interstellar mission cost and when is it likely to happen? To place this question in context, let us first consider some big program costs in history.
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Interstellar Ramjets
The ramjet was a proposed variant of the fusion engine, but rather than carrying along its own fuel, it would use enormous electromagnetic fields to ram scoop hydrogen from the interstellar medium. The high energy protons enter the ram scoop, confined by magnetic field lines and then meeting under the conditions for fusion reactions to occur, producing a high energy exhaust jet. In theory, if the interstellar ramjet can be made to work, then relativistic star travel will be possible.
Modern space artist: Adrian Mann – the graphical engineer
Although Adrian Mann is a painter, his work is mainly achieved through the click of a mouse using sophisticated computer software. He is fast gaining a reputation for turning the visions of pioneers into real world engineering schematics and it is hoped eventual realisation.
How fast to the stars?
The Interstellar Index is about interstellar travel, that is – Spaceships that travel to other stars. But what does it really take to send a spacecraft through the void of space to those distance sea of Suns?
The voyage of HMS Challenger
Humans have been an explorer species for centuries, and few adventures epitomise this so well than the voyage of HMS Challenger in 1872 sailing out from Portsmouth in England on a trip that was of immense importance and would continue until 1876.