Adam Hibberd Wouldn’t you like an answer to the question: What is ‘Oumuamua? There have been many theories, but there is no real consensus. The only way to answer this would be to send a spacecraft to observe ‘Oumuamua in situ but the total lack of will-power to get this question answered, in my view, […]
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.
The Case of Fireball CNEOS 2017-10-09
Adam Hibberd Around the middle of last year I read an article by Siraj and Loeb in which they analysed closely a database of bolides (which are meteor fireballs) maintained by NASA-JPL CNEOS (Center for Near Earth Object Studies). In so doing they identified at least one bolide as having an interstellar origin (designated CNEOS […]
Project Lyra: The Mission to Resolve a Mystery
Adam Hibberd Project Lyra is the study of the feasibility of a spacecraft mission to the first interstellar object to be discovered passing through our Solar System, designated 1I/’Oumuamua. I have now authored and co-authored a total of nine Project Lyra papers. The considerable number of science papers (many now peer-reviewed, several still to be […]
Optimum Interplanetary Trajectory Software: The Secrets Revealed
Adam Hibberd In the UK Spring of 2017, I derived the theory for solving interplanetary trajectories, which enabled me to develop a powerful software tool for optimising hight thrust spacecraft missions, a tool which I called Optimum Interplanetary Trajectory Software (OITS). For those of you fascinated by mathematics, in particular mathematical formulae, the two equations […]
Laser Sails: Trajectories Using Optimum Interplanetary Trajectory Software
It struck me a while ago that I have developed this extremely effective tool for solving interplanetary trajectories (OITS), so how would I be able to exploit it for alternative applications – applications which would be beyond its originally intended purpose, that of designing trajectories for chemically propelled spacecraft (and in the process assuming impulsive […]
Mars Ride-Share: an Opportunity Not to be Missed
Adam Hibberd I was recently discussing with my colleagues across the pond, the potential for mounting a cheap mission to some alternative, yet interesting destination in the inner Solar System, by exploiting a ‘ride-share’ with a more important mission, possibly one organised by NASA or ESA. It struck me that since there have been, and […]
Avi Loeb takes on Project Lyra, we reply
Avi Loeb, whose name is firmly associated with the alien artifact speculation regarding ‘Oumuamua has posted a blog article on Project Lyra. This is not the first time he reacts to Project Lyra and we see this as another opportunity to put forward our point of view. We agree that the only way to settle […]
‘Oumuamua a hydrogen-water iceberg? i4is illustrates
‘Oumuamua, the interstellar object discovered in 2017 is hypothesized to be a hydrogen iceberg: Bergner, J. B., & Seligman, D. Z. (2023). Acceleration of 1I/‘Oumuamua from radiolytically produced H2 in H2O ice. Nature, 615(7953), 610-613. Although this has been a much discussed hypothesis, the dominant image of ‘Oumuamua used in the media is still the […]
BBC/Bilibili Series i4is Contribution: Rendezvous with the Future
Rendezvous with the Future (未来漫游指南) (BBC/Bilibili) is a major streaming TV series on the future of humanity, which has been released in China and has so far been watched by over 55 million people. It is narrated by the internationally famed Chinese SF author Liu Cixin. Our Executive Director Dr. Andreas Hein acted as an […]
C/2014 UN271 the comet which will NOT collide with the Earth
Adam Hibberd An Oort cloud comet is composed primarily of dust and ice and has spent most of its life in the far-flung distant reaches of our Solar System (2,000 au to 200,000 au from our Sun). It is eventually nudged inward towards our Sun by gravitational influences such as galactic tides or some passing […]
Project Lyra: Falcon Heavy Expendable
Adam Hibberd Following on from my previous blog where I studied the capability of the up-coming Ariane 6 4 launcher in terms of delivering a spacecraft on a course to intercept the first interstellar object to be discovered, ‘Oumuamua, I continue this logical progression with analysis of a more powerful launcher, the Falcon Heavy. The […]
Project Lyra: Using an Ariane 6
Adam Hibberd Ariane 6 is the up-and-coming successor to the old Arianespace workhorse, Ariane 5, and may secure its maiden flight later this year. There will ultimately be two strap-on booster configurations from which to choose, one with two boosters, and the more powerful version with four. I thought it might be worthwhile assessing the […]