Our i4is article by Adam Hibberd and Andreas Hein on missions using nuclear propulsion to interstellar objects such as 1I/’Oumuamua has now been published in one of the most prestigious journals in asteronautics, Acta Astronautica. The article is available for free to download for a limited time!
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.
Deutsche Welle – i4is asteroid mining research featured
Andreas Hein presents some of the results form the i4is techno-economic analysis of asteroid mining in this excellent video. The paper: Hein, A. M., Matheson, R., & Fries, D. (2020). A techno-economic analysis of asteroid mining. Acta Astronautica, 168, 104-115.
i4is Article published in Astrophysical Journal Letters
We are proud that our article about a Venus astrobiology mission, based on a fleet of balloons has now been published in the prestigious journal Astrophysical Journal Letters. The article can also be downloaded for free via arXiv. We are grateful for the collaboration with Manasvi Lingam (Florida Institute of Technology / Harvard), without whose […]
Missions to Venus
A lot of media attention and interest in the scientific community at the moment centred on Venus in regard to the discovery of phosphine in its atmosphere and therefore potential life. The question now is how do we get there? Optimum Interplanetary Trajectory Software can be brought to bear on this problem and help answer the question.
i4is Venus balloon concept featured in Forbes
Fast mission to detect microbes on Venus – The joint i4is, FIT, Harvard, Space Initiatives paper: “A Precursor Balloon Mission for Venusian Astrobiology” by Andreas M. Hein, Manasvi Lingam, T. Marshall Eubanks, Adam Hibberd, Dan Fries, William Paul Blase has now been published on arXiv. Thanks to Bruce Dorminey, it has now been featured in […]
Project Lyra on Universe Today
Our Decadal Survey White Paper “Interstellar Now! Missions to and Sample Returns from Nearby Interstellar Objects” has been featured on Universe Today. Thank you to Matt Williams for another awesome article about Project Lyra!
Interstellar Now! Joint White Paper for Decadal Survey Submitted
We are very proud to announce that we have submitted a Mission Concept White Paper for the Decadal Survey on missions to interstellar objects: “Interstellar Now! Missions to and Sample Returns from Nearby Interstellar Objects” This was an intense collaborative effort between a group of international researchers: Andreas M. Hein (i4is), T. Marshall Eubanks (i4is/Space […]
Reaching 1I/’Oumuamua via Nuclear Thermal Rockets – A Gamechanger
Our Project Lyra Team has come up with an analysis of using nuclear thermal rockets for reaching the interstellar object 1I/’Oumuamua. It turns out that drastic reductions in mission duration (< 14 years for a launch in 2031) and spacecraft mass (1000s of kg vs. 100s of kg for conventional chemical propulsion) are possible.
i4is Magnetic Sail Paper in Acta Astronautica
We are very excited to share with you the publication of Nikolaos Perakis’ first single-authored paper in Elsevier’s peer-reviewed journal “Acta Astronautica”. The paper entitled “Maneuvering through solar wind using magnetic sails” explores the use of magnetic sails for interplanetary missions and can be accessed free of charge for the next 45 days using the […]
i4is Decadal Survey White Paper submitted
In collaboration with Space Initiatives (T. Marshall Eubanks) and the Paris Observatory (Jean Schneider), we have submitted the White Paper „Exobodies in Our Back Yard: Science from Missions to Nearby Interstellar Objects“, based on our work on Project Lyra. The Decadal Survey White Papers are a crucial first step towards defining future NASA missions in […]
The Cathedral and the Starship
What can we learn from cathedral builders from the Middle Ages for building a starship? In a blog article on Centauri Dreams, our Executive Director Andreas Hein elaborates on this question and provides some surprising answers.
Project Lyra on the Spaceshow
Adam Hibberd, a key member of Project Lyra, gave an interview for the Spaceshow, explaining in depth a mission to ‘Oumuamua, based on his OITS trajectory analysis tool. The recording can be found here.
