Going to the stars on one’s life scale can be a matter of choosing the right wind.
Researchers from McGill University in Canada and the Tau Zero Foundation in the US have proposed a new way to cross the incredible distance of space, using nothing and being inspired by seabirds.
To date, one of the best solutions for space travel uses the form of starlight from the Sun. Although small, numbers and high speeds make photons an impressive source of energy to create the high speed required to cross light years of space in a short amount of time.
Innovations in solar sea technology have advanced significantly over the years, and models are even being tested in the harsh environments of our inner Solar System.
Although they work, all solar panels have one problem in common: the sail itself. Solar panels must stretch meters to capture the photons needed to power the technology.
They also need the right shape and material to convert each photon’s momentum into motion. And they must drain the heat well so they don’t spoil and break.
This is not just a headache in physics; All these requirements add mass. Even using the lightest objects known, the maximum speed we could achieve using the Sun’s rays would be more than 2 percent of the speed of light, meaning that a trip to the nearest star would still take hundreds of years.
It goes without saying that going to the stars would be easier if we left out the sails.
Fortunately, some kind of wind blows from the sun, one made not of photons but of plasma of ions whipped up by collisions and bursts of the Sun’s magnetic field.
Although there are fewer high-velocity electrons and protons blasted from the Sun than photons, the number of them being driven is much greater.
These small particles can be a problem for regular sails, placing their value on top of the object like static on a woolen jumper in winter, causing drag and changing its shape.
However as anyone who has ever tried to push magnetic poles together knows well, an electric field can resist without the need for a large, solid surface.
And so it’s goodbye shiny things, and hello superconductor. A string just a few meters long, in theory, could create a field large enough to block the solar wind on a scale of tens to hundreds of kilometers.
The system would act like a magnetic parachute, which is pulled by particles traveling at a speed of about 700 kilometers per second, or less than a quarter of the speed of light.
That’s not a bad thing, but as albatross birds know, winds don’t set a limit to how fast they can fly.
Seabirds can carry hurricane-like forces, which are known as dynamic surges before returning to their original state.
Using the same trick as the ‘tornado’ of the magnetic field – the turbulent region of cosmic wind used by astronomers to define the edges of our Sun – the magnetic field can exceed the speed of the solar wind, which can reach the sun. sails from radiation alone.
Although the technology may not appear to be much faster than the ‘old’ solar system, some forms of turbulence at the edge of interstellar space can be very powerful.
Even without the slightest jolt from the high-energy boost, plasma-based technology could put cube-sat-based satellites around Jupiter within months, not years.
As with the ancient seas, there are many ways we can use the waves that travel through space.
And yet, seabirds show us the way.
This study was published in Frontiers in Space Technologies.
