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Interstellar travel, Propulsion, life support, communications, and the long journey /

This book explores the technological and biological challenges associated with interstellar travel. Edited by Les Johnson and Kenneth Roy, it covers propulsion systems like chemical rockets, nuclear fission and fusion, and antimatter propulsion, as well as innovative options such as solar sails. The...

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Bibliografiske detaljer
Andre forfattere: Johnson, Les (Charles Les) (Editor), Roy, Kenneth (Editor)
Format: Electronisk eBog
Sprog:engelsk
Udgivet: Amsterdam, Netherlands ; Cambridge, MA : Elsevier, [2024]
Fag:
Interstellar travel.
Manned space flight.
Voyages interstellaires.
Vol spatial habité.
Interstellar travel
Manned space flight
Online adgang:ScienceDirect
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Indholdsfortegnelse:
  • Intro
  • Interstellar Travel: Propulsion, Life Support, Communications, and the Long Journey
  • Copyright
  • Contents
  • Contributors
  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1: Propulsion options
  • 1. Introduction
  • 1.1. Rocket equation
  • 2. Chemical rockets
  • 3. Getting an assist from gravity
  • 4. Nuclear fission propulsion systems
  • 4.1. Fission process
  • 4.2. Fission energy release
  • 4.3. Nuclear thermal propulsion
  • 4.4. Advanced fission propulsion concepts
  • 4.4.1. Liquid core nuclear engine
  • 4.4.2. Gas core nuclear engines
  • 4.4.3. Fission fragment engines
  • 4.4.4. Nuclear pulse engines
  • 4.5. Nuclear electric propulsion
  • 4.6. Summary: Fission propulsion for an interstellar mission
  • 5. Nuclear fusion propulsion
  • 5.1. Nuclear fusion reactions
  • 5.2. Approaches to fusion propulsion
  • 5.2.1. Magnetic confinement fusion (MCF)
  • 5.2.2. Interstellar ramjet
  • 5.2.3. Inertial confinement fusion (ICF)
  • 5.2.4. Magneto-inertial fusion (MIF)
  • 5.2.5. Inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC)
  • 5.3. Summary: Fusion propulsion for an interstellar mission
  • 6. Antimatter propulsion
  • 6.1. Electron-positron annihilation
  • 6.1.1. Electron-Positron propulsion
  • 6.2. Proton-antiproton annihilation
  • 6.2.1. Proton-antiproton propulsion
  • 6.2.1.1. Solid core engines
  • 6.2.1.2. Gas core engines
  • 6.2.1.3. Plasma core engine
  • 6.2.1.4. Beam core engines
  • 6.3. Antimatter-catalyzed fission and fusion
  • 6.4. Antimatter production and storage
  • 6.5. Summary: Antimatter propulsion for an interstellar mission
  • 7. Propulsion without propellant
  • 7.1. Solar sails and sun divers
  • 7.2. Power beaming
  • 7.3. Particle and pellet beams
  • 7.3.1. Magnetic sails
  • 7.3.2. Pellet streams
  • 7.3.3. SailBeam
  • 8. Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
  • Chapter 2: Electrical power options for interstellar spacecraft.
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Power sources-Current and near-term
  • 2.1. Solar power sources
  • 2.2. Nuclear power sources
  • 2.3. Radioisotope power sources
  • 2.3.1. Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs)
  • 2.3.2. Multi-Hundred Watt Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MHW-RTG)
  • 2.3.3. General-Purpose Heat Source Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (GPHS-RTG)
  • 2.3.4. Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG)
  • 2.3.5. Radioisotopes
  • 2.3.6. Radioisotope dynamic power sources
  • 2.4. Fission reactor power source
  • 2.4.1. SNAP-10A: First reactor in space
  • 2.4.2. Some observations on the future of space nuclear reactor power systems for interstellar missions
  • 3. Power sources-Far-term
  • 3.1. Power beaming
  • 3.2. Fusion
  • 3.3. Antimatter
  • 4. Speculative concepts
  • 4.1. Negative energy/vacuum energy/dark energy/zero-point energy
  • 4.2. Wormholes and black holes
  • 4.3. Biology
  • 5. Concluding remarks
  • References
  • Chapter 3: Crew health-Psychological, biological, and medical issues and the need for a systems approach
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. The main health and performance hazards of spaceflight
  • 2.1. Altered gravity level
  • 2.2. Isolation and confinement
  • 2.3. Distance from Earth
  • 2.4. Hostile and closed environment
  • 2.5. Radiation
  • 3. The main health and performance concerns
  • 3.1. Physiology
  • 3.1.1. Vestibular and sensorimotor disruption and adaptation
  • 3.1.2. Musculoskeletal adaptation
  • 3.1.3. Cardiovascular effects and adaptation
  • 3.1.4. Immune system function
  • 3.1.5. Microbiome and microbiota
  • 3.1.6. CNS effects
  • 3.1.7. Kidney stones and a note on medical conditions
  • 3.2. Spacecraft-induced effects
  • 3.3. Cosmic dust, regolith, and environmental toxins
  • 3.4. Multisystem effects
  • 3.5. Psychology and behavioral health.
  • 3.6. Special topic: Reproduction and child development
  • 3.7. Special topic: Human modification
  • 3.8. Radiation effects and mitigation
  • 4. Mitigation possibilities
  • 4.1. Nutrition
  • 4.2. Exercise
  • 4.3. Artificial gravity (AG)
  • 4.4. Lower body negative pressure (LBNP)
  • 4.5. Touch
  • 4.6. Other approaches
  • 5. The bigger picture
  • References
  • Chapter 4: Interstellar life support
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. The big picture: Humans with a life support system is the payload
  • 3. Life support major elements
  • 4. Major elements-Definitions, descriptions, and examples
  • 4.1. Air management
  • 4.2. Water management
  • 4.3. Food management
  • 4.4. Thermal control
  • 4.5. Waste management
  • 4.6. Crew systems/human accommodations
  • 5. Introduction to long-duration life support
  • 5.1. Some history-Space stations, ground simulations
  • 5.2. Considerations for long-duration vs short-duration life support
  • 5.3. Artificial acceleration or microgravity?
  • 5.4. The concept of closure
  • 5.5. The importance of maintenance and repair
  • 6. Summary of state of the art of long-duration life support
  • 6.1. General limitations of current technologies
  • 6.2. Air management
  • 6.2.1. Pressure control
  • 6.2.2. Oxygen production
  • 6.2.3. CO2 collection and processing
  • 6.2.4. Humidity collection and processing
  • 6.2.5. Trace contaminants
  • 6.2.6. Measurement and verification
  • 6.3. Water management
  • 6.3.1. Water processing
  • 6.3.2. Water storage and delivery
  • 6.3.3. Measurement and verification
  • 6.4. Waste management
  • 6.4.1. Waste collection
  • 6.4.2. Female-specific considerations
  • 6.4.3. Stabilization/biohazard control
  • 6.4.4. Storage
  • 6.4.5. Recycling
  • 6.5. Food production and management
  • 6.5.1. The importance of packaging
  • 6.5.2. Metabolic differences of different diets
  • 6.6. Thermal control.
  • 6.6.1. Active thermal systems
  • 6.6.2. Passive thermal systems
  • 6.7. Crew systems
  • 6.7.1. Personal provisions
  • 6.7.2. Hygiene
  • 6.7.3. Exercise
  • 6.7.4. Lighting
  • 6.7.5. Free volumes
  • 7. Holes in the picture
  • 7.1. The inadequacies in closure
  • 7.2. The consideration of nonrecyclable consumables
  • 7.3. Some hard ethical questions
  • 8. Speculations on the future evolution of life support
  • 8.1. Magnetic fluids
  • 8.2. 3D printing advances
  • 8.3. Genetic engineering of simple lifeforms
  • 8.4. Genetic modifications of humans
  • 9. Conclusion
  • References
  • Chapter 5: Timing relationships and resulting communications challenges in relativistic travel
  • 1. Travelers clocks in relativistic travel
  • 1.1. Clock images
  • 1.2. Reversing direction of propagation
  • 1.3. Compact notation for clock image compositions
  • 1.3.1. Communication among three travelers
  • 1.3.2. Query-response communication
  • 1.4. Factors determining clock images
  • 2. Spacecraft trajectories
  • 2.1. Indefinite acceleration assumptions
  • 2.2. Canonical mission architecture
  • 3. Relativistic effects on spacecraft trajectories
  • 3.1. Travelers clocks
  • 3.2. Inertial frame and coordinate times
  • 3.3. Clock synchronization
  • 3.4. Measures of mission-elapsed time
  • 4. Communication with a spacecraft
  • 4.1. Spacecraft trajectory
  • 4.2. Event horizon
  • 4.3. Spacecraft communication with origin and destination
  • 4.4. Mission-elapsed time at landing
  • 4.5. One-way communication: Clock images
  • 4.6. Two-way communication: Query-response latency
  • 4.6.1. Indefinite constant self-acceleration mission
  • 4.6.2. Canonical mission
  • 4.7. Time warping in streaming communication
  • 4.8. Communication between two spacecraft
  • 4.9. Role of acceleration magnitude and duration
  • 5. Analysis
  • 5.1. Map and two-clock metaphor.
  • 5.2. Time dependence of kinematic variables
  • 5.3. Kinematic variable solutions
  • 5.4. Trajectory with indefinite self-acceleration
  • 5.5. Event horizon
  • 5.6. Clock images and query-response latencies
  • 5.7. Other motion effects
  • 6. Canonical mission trajectory
  • 7. Conclusions
  • Appendix A. Nomenclature
  • Appendix B. Analytical results for indefinite acceleration
  • B.1. Spacecraft trajectory
  • B.2. Clock images and query-response latency
  • B.3. Communication between two accelerating spacecraft
  • B.4. Time warping derivatives
  • References
  • Chapter 6: Prospects for human hibernation
  • 1. Introduction
  • 1.1. Challenges of human interstellar travel
  • 1.2. Rationale for hibernation
  • 2. Overview
  • 2.1. Limitations of the human lifespan
  • 2.2. Metabolic reduction in nature
  • 2.3. Evidence for hibernation in hominins
  • 3. Maintaining the human body
  • 3.1. Hydration
  • 3.2. Oxygen demand
  • 3.3. Caloric intake
  • 4. Approaches to human stasis
  • 4.1. Suspended animation
  • 4.2. Hypothermic states
  • 5. Achieving limited-duration stasis
  • 5.1. Therapeutic hypothermia background
  • 5.2. Adaptations for human spaceflight
  • 5.3. Associated medical challenges
  • 6. Recent research and advancements
  • 6.1. Hypothalamus manipulation
  • 6.2. Adenosine receptors
  • 7. Long-duration stasis for interstellar travel
  • 7.1. Profound hypothermia
  • 7.2. Combined stasis and longevity
  • 7.3. Enhanced biology
  • 8. Summary
  • References
  • Chapter 7: Ship governance and culture
  • 1. Introduction and key assumptions
  • 2. Output goals: Safety, efficiency, and freedom
  • 3. Basic governance models
  • 3.1. Military ships
  • 3.2. Antarctic stations
  • 3.3. Military base
  • 3.4. Company town
  • 3.5. Private compacts
  • 3.6. Democracies
  • 3.7. The commune
  • 3.8. Are there models weve missed?
  • 4. The role of innovation and its rewards.

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