3/30/2023 0 Comments Antimatter engine![]() ![]() In the same vein, a antiproton-driven sail that could reach speeds of 5% the speed of light or more would be capable of making it to Alpha Centauri (or Proxima Centauri) in about 90 years time. Starshot, as you may recall, calls for a wafer craft and a laser-driven lightsail that would be capable of reaching speeds of up to 20% the speed of light, thus making the journey to Alpha Centauri in 20 years. warp drive, wormholes, star gates, etc.). Much like Project Starshot (whom they acknowledge on their campaign page), Jackson and his team are looking to produce an interstellar mission proposal that does not involve shortcuts (i.e. Diagram showing Hbar’s concept for a antimatter-driven propulsion system. Jackson and his colleagues are now seeking public support so that they may finish their work on the experimental sail and prepare it for exposure to an antiproton beam. Unfortunately, due to the budget environment of the time, the NIAC was forced to cancel its funding after a second round had been granted. This selective transfer of momentum is thrust.” The other daughter flies into space with an exhaust velocity of 4.6% of lightspeed. Because the daughters are charged, the one travelling further into the sail is absorbed and transfers is forward momentum. These daughters travel in opposite directions with a kinetic energy of 1 MeV per proton or neutron. “On average, a fission event results in the creation of two daughter nuclei of roughly equal mass. Because antiprotons and electrons do not share any quantum numbers, the antiproton immediately cascades down into the atomic ground state, causing a high probability of interaction between the antiproton and either a proton or neutron within the nucleus. When the antiprotons enter the sail, they displace an electron orbiting an uranium nucleus. “Note that antiprotons have a negative electrical charge, similar to an electron. Jackson explained to Universe Today via email: When a pulse of antiprotons is annihilated against a small section of the uranium side, the resulting fission causes momentum. Illustration of the solar system and its nearby galactic neighborhood on a logarithmic scale extending (from < 1 to) 1 million AU. This sail would measure 5 meters in diameter and be composed of a carbon backing on one side and uranium foil on the other (measuring 15 and 296 microns thick, respectively). The result was a propulsion concept that relied on a beam that would fire focused antiprotons onto a sail to generate propulsion. These specifications essentially called for the creation of an antimatter rocket that could travel as far as the heliopause within a decade’s time. Jackson and his company $75,000 to develop a mission concept that could traverse 250 AUs of space within 10 years time, and with a fuel supply of 10 kg. In 2002, NASA’s Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) awarded Dr. In 2002, he co-founded a limited-liability company ( HBar Technologies) for the sake of developing commercial markets for antimatter. Before entering the private sector, Jackson worked as an accelerator physicist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory for 14 years. Jackson, a graduate of Cornell University, is hoping to change that. This process unleashes energy and a shower of particles (pions and muons), which can be channeled by a magnetic nozzle to generate thrust.Īnd while laboratories like CERN have been producing antimatter, and research is being conducted on large-scale storage, no propulsion systems exist that could turn antimatter into thrust. Typically, this theoretical concept relies on the collision between hydrogen and antihydrogen (which have the same mass but opposite charge) to generate thrust. It is also the most fuel-efficient, requiring mere milligrams of antimatter to produce the same amount of energy as tons of chemical fuel. As propulsion goes, it has the highest specific energy of any known method, 100 times more than fission/fusion reactions, and 10 billion times more than chemical propellants. Towards this end, they have launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund their efforts.Īs advanced propulsion concepts go, antimatter has quite a lot going for it. He and his research team, which have been funded by NASA in the past, are looking to create an antimatter engine that will be capable of reaching (or exceeding) 5% the speed of light. Gerald Jackson, who are working towards making an interstellar mission possible in the near future. ![]() For the most part, their efforts has been focused on possible missions to Mars and the outer Solar System.īut there are some people, like Dr. ![]() When it comes to the future of space exploration, one of the biggest questions is, “how and when will we travel to the nearest star?” And while space agencies have been pondering this question and coming up with proposals for decades, none of them have advanced beyond the theory stage. ![]()
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