Adam Hibberd 3I/ATLAS, the interstellar object, is in the Solar System and making its presence known, not only to astronomers but also to the world’s media. My paper with Avi Loeb and Adam Crowl examined the hypothesis that 3I/ATLAS might be alien technology, go here. I confess this paper has been somewhat of a hit! […]
Starship Blog
With the recent creation of the new i4is website, along with the newer blogs, we have included a selection of previous Starship Blog posts from our archive which we hope you will enjoy browsing. If you would like to write an article and have it appear on our web site, then get in touch with us.
3I/ATLAS: An Interstellar Controversy
Adam Hibberd When you have a surprise, uninvited visitor gatecrash your party, you are liable to treat them cautiously at first and then after a visual appraisal reveals they are worthy of acceptance, maybe curiosity will strike and you may start asking questions to find out more about them. You may by the end of […]
3I/ATLAS: What would Juno need to do?
Adam Hibberd Having demonstrated yesterday that a reasonably low DeltaV (velocity increment) applied by the Juno’s engine could achieve a significantly closer approach to 3I/ATLAS than would otherwise be the case if Juno stayed in its current Jupiter orbit, surely that would be the end of the matter? The answer is ‘not quite’, since this […]
Juno and 3I/ATLAS, a New Lease of Life?
Adam Hibberd Juno the wife and sister of Jupiter in Greek mythology, is also a spacecraft currently orbiting the planet Jupiter. The spacecraft suffered a major setback in 2016 when the main engine became unusable necessitating key alternative arrangements to be made to the Juno mission plan. A paper by Avi Loeb, Adam Crowl and […]
3I/ATLAS: What if?
Adam Hibberd My paper with Adam Crowl and Avi Loeb is out today, and we have collectively been doing what scientists and philosophers have been doing since time immemorial, and that is asking questions, and exercising our imaginations in the process. In this case the question goes like this: ‘is 3I/ATLAS, the third interstellar interloper […]
Missions to 3I/ATLAS
Adam Hibberd The third interstellar object is causing a bit of a stir. What could it be exactly? Judging by its predicted path, we should get a ring-side view of it from Earth, except for an important viewing outage as it approaches perihelion – the closest approach to the Sun – simply because it will […]
Direct Missions to ‘Oumuamua
Adam Hibberd There has been a lot of discussion around what would be the best route to catch that most mysterious and outrageously quirky interstellar interloper 1I/’Oumuamua, and I have personally investigated all sorts of spacecraft mission scenarios; using a combination of gravity assists (where kinetic energy is gained by the spacecraft’s encounter with a […]
Presentation for the British Interplanetary Society on Missions to 2024 YR4
Adam Hibberd An asteroid was discovered in December 2024 which for a while had the world on tenter hooks. Its predicted path brought it in close proximity to the Earth in December 2032, with a chance of collision which steadily rose to around 3% over the course of several weeks. Now all the pressure valves […]
The Importance of Exploration
Adam Hibberd I have recently read a review of a book titled “Astrotopia: the Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race” written by a professor Mary-Jane Rubenstein and it is reviewed by Patrick Mahon, who is on the Board of Directors for i4is. The review can be found here. You might be interested in that […]
2024 YR4: A Continuing Menace
Adam Hibberd Now the threat posed by Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) 2027 YR4 to Earth in December 2032 has been effectively ruled out altogether, an apathy concerning this object has descended on so many and this is, of itself, quite alarming. Let me explain to you TWO reasons now why such complacency is entirely misplaced. […]
2024 YR4 Battle Plan
Adam Hibberd The asteroid 2024 YR4 will approach pretty close to Earth on 2032 December 22nd and we can’t yet preclude a Tunguska-scale impact. Unlike Tunugska however, there would be quite a high likelihood of human fatalities, since its impact location could coincide with quite densely populated areas including India, for example, certainly a disaster […]
The Impact Energy of 2024 YR4, a Mission of Gravity
Adam Hibberd Recently I’ve been pondering a problem of gravity. Specifically, the gravity of a particular celestial object which has come to the world’s attention, making headline news in certain papers, I am of course talking about the potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) designated 2024 YR4. This object has an orbit which could – potentially – […]