So is ‘Oumuamua natural or artificial? First it should be understood that a clear and unequivocal answer to this can only be achieved by an in-situ examination. The artist impressions of ‘Oumuamua which have become memes on the internet generally depict ‘Oumuamua as an elongated cigar-shaped rock. This meme may have done a great deal […]
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.
1I/’Oumuamua. Things from the Perspective of an Interstellar Traveller.
What did ‘Oumuamua see of Earth as it encountered the inner solar system? A speck of light from a distance and, as ‘Oumuamua reached its closest approach to earth, perigee (which was at 0.16 au), a disc with dark and bright areas according to the direction of incident sunlight. Let us ignore the dramatic changes […]
1I/’Oumuamua’s Orbit As It Encountered The Inner Solar System.
I found this an interesting little exercise. Let’s look at things from ‘Oumuamua’s perspective. What phase would it have seen Earth in as it travelled along its orbital path through the inner solar system? This is quantified by a parameter known as the phase angle. What is the phase angle? When the phase angle is […]
Project Lyra: Missions to 1I/’Oumuamua with a Passive Jupiter Encounter
Adam Hibberd June 2022 Do you believe in interstellar travellers visiting us from afar? There is good news for you: a real interstellar traveller was observed by real astronomers passing through our celestial locale from late 2017 to January 2018. Unlike a great many strange objects, captured on camera as a still or film, often […]
Project Lyra: Presentation at SunDiver Workshop in Luxembourg
On the 17-18th of May, a workshop on “Fast, Low-Cost, Interplanetary Sailcraft Science Missions” took place in the Neimenster Abbey in Luxembourg, organized by the University of Luxembourg (SnT), Breakthrough Initiatives, and NASA-JPL. Our Executive Director Andreas Hein organized this meeting in his capacity as a professor of space systems engineering at the University of […]
i4is Featured in Science & Vie
Our Executive Director, Andreas Hein, has been featured in the special edition of Science & Vie, one of the major French science outlets. The article covers the topic of asteroid mining.
i4is Venus Balloon Mission on Bloomberg!
Our Venus balloon paper has been featured in Bloomberg Moon Shots. Our Executive Director Andreas Hein, who is also the main author of the study presents our mission study, together with MIT’s Sara Seager. Hein, A. M., Lingam, M., Eubanks, T. M., Hibberd, A., Fries, D., & Blase, W. P. (2020). A precursor Balloon mission […]
Project Lyra Page Update
We have updated our Project Lyra page, taking our most recent publications and media coverage into account. We have also added an FAQ that addresses the most frequently asked questions about our project. Please have a look and enjoy!
Project Lyra on Newsweek!
We are proud to report that Project Lyra has been featured in Newsweek and other major media outlets, thanks to the recent paper “Project Lyra: A Mission to 1I/’Oumuamua without Solar Oberth Manoeuvre”.
Project Lyra on Youtube!
Another i4is Youtube video, this time an introduction to Project Lyra. The ‘Oumuamua mystery is still not solved: What is ‘Oumuamua? The only way to find out is to fly there. But is that possible? This video answers this question. Error correction: The Earth travels at about 26 km/s with respect to other surrounding stars, […]
World Ships on Youtube!
i4is’ Andreas Hein has created a short Youtube video to introduce world ships, focusing on the 1984 Bond & Martin designs. Short introduction to “world ships”, possibly the largest interstellar vessels ever designed. They have been proposed by Alan Bond and Anthony Martin in 1984. They are hundreds of kilometres long, house a population the […]
Interstellar Studies Summer Course
Sign up for 1st i4is / Limitless Space Institute interstellar course July 26! Details and signup via this link!