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 – […]
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.
2024 YR4 and Sample Return Missions
Adam Hibberd Today it was back to potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) 2024 YR4 which was discovered quite recently and has a comparatively high chance (depending on the source ~ 1.3%, with some sources quoting higher probabilities) of colliding with Earth in 2032. Furthermore this collision has the potential of causing many human deaths, though I […]
Tunguska and the Case of Asteroid 2024 YR4
Adam Hibberd The Tunguska event holds a special place in humanity’s collective memory as an incident which could have been so much more devastating had it not occurred in the heavily forested area of Siberia and instead in a more densely populated area . Yes trees were flattened yet it seems for this event at […]
Solar Sailing as a Precursor to Proxima Centauri
Adam Hibberd I think most of you know me by now as the guy who developed the tool called ‘Optimum Interplanetary Trajectory Software’ (OITS) which ultimately solved the problem of how we might send a spacecraft to catch up with rapidly receding interstellar object and scientific enigma ‘Oumuamua. I decided to work on OITS – […]
A Precursor Mission to Proxima Centauri
A Mission to Five Near Earth Objects in 2030 Adam Hibberd We at i4is, together with our collaborators on the Phase I NIAC (NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts) at Space Initiatives Inc., have been contemplating precursors to the ultimate mission of sending laser sails to swarm our nearest neighbouring star, Proxima Centauri. A summary of the […]
Deflecting Apophis
Adam Hibberd There have been some developments. I have been addressing the problem of how to deflect Apophis from its path if it were indeed on a collision course with Earth. My Apocalypse Plot gives the magnitude of ΔV at different points in Apophis’s orbit to send it on a course to JUST strike the […]
Apophis: More Monolythical Mathematical Musings.
Adam Hibberd Apophis gets awfully close on Friday April 13th 2029 (within GEO altitude). Its orbit is altered by the encounter with Earth and the obvious question is will there be any further possible encounters? Some of you may remember I have worked on the practicalities of sending laser-accelerated sails to intercept Apophis as it […]
Errors in Velocity Due to an Interstellar Probe’s Fast Encounter with a Star
Adam Hibberd A spacecraft is travelling on a very hyperbolic orbit w.r.t. an object X (possibly a star) which has gravitational mass, μ, meaning the spacecraft is only slightly deflected from its direction of motion. Our task is to quantify the errors in velocity, both longitudinal and transverse, associated with this encounter compared to simply […]
‘Oumuamua: Lasers in Space
Adam Hibberd In my latest research, I have been considering the case of using laser structures in space to accelerate space laser sails to sufficient speed so that they will ultimately reach the first discovered interstellar object, 1I/’Oumuamua, within a matter of years from launch, or even as soon as a year. This is clearly […]
i4is – BBC Sky at Night Feature
Great to see that our research has been featured in the well-known BBC Sky at Night Magazine: “Spacecraft powered by light sails and lasers offer a quicker way to explore the Solar System. But there’s a catch.” Check it out here! Congrats to Manasvi Lingam, Adam Hibberd, and Andreas Hein! (Image credit: BBC)
Astronomy Magazine Cover Feature: Project Lyra
Project Lyra is the cover feature of the bestselling astronomy magazine in the world! Check out the 10-page article of the June 2024 issue of Astronomy with a lot of great artwork based on the work by the Project Lyra team and beautifully executed by Maciej Rebisz. Get a digital copy here or a physical […]
Measurement of Mass by Space Sails
Adam Hibberd I’ve been doing a little algebra. Let me state the problem. Let us say we have a swarm of space sails flying edge on to the interstellar medium (ISM). This swarm lies in a plane at right angles to its velocity relative to this ISM. Now lets bring in an element of the […]