Starshot : Probe Projects to Alpha Centauri

[Cikomyr]

Just learned about it. Apparently, Stephen Hawking, Yuri Milner, Freeman Dyson, Ann Druyan, Avi Loeb are part of the presentation.

The project Starshot is basically sending very, very small probes (about as big as computer chips) capable of collecting data and sending them back to Earth. These probes would be sent directly towars other Star Systems at a speed of 20% of c.

How? Each probe would be equipped with 10 to 12 feet-wide Solar Sails, which would then be shot at by 100GW laser located on Earth in order to accelerate them to sufficient sleed.

I am sorry not to provide a link right now. I am on my mobile device.

[Leewei]

Here's an NPR article on it:

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/12/473960826/forget-starships-new-proposal-would-use-starchips-to-visit-alpha-centauri

[Yora]

0.2c would be pretty good.That would be 20-something years for the trip plus another 4 years for the signal to make it back. I think currently it's not unusual to wait almost 10 years between launch and getting data, so that's not really that bad.

But I imagine getting a good signal over 4ly from a tiny probe could be the biggest technical challenge.

Interesting that the linked article has a picture of Alpha Cetauri. Because that's actually two similarly sized stars, not one.

[Cikomyr]

0.2c would be pretty good.That would be 20-something years for the trip plus another 4 years for the signal to make it back. I think currently it's not unusual to wait almost 10 years between launch and getting data, so that's not really that bad.

But I imagine getting a good signal over 4ly from a tiny probe could be the biggest technical challenge.

We would have 24 years to prepare for it :)

[TheThan]

Yeah I just saw the interview they had with Hawking and Milner. I was quite disappointed they didn’t really ask them any interesting questions about the project.

[Blackhawk748]

Cool, hope this works as i should still be kicking by time the first call comes through.

[Cikomyr]

As far as i understand, they cannot adjust course. So they plan to send multiple probes with multiple flight path, and hope to get lucky.

Man. With a 5-year delay on any information received, a mere 1 hour of collectable data, its quite a shot in the dark.

[Telok]

Light sails, beam riders, and very small probes are nothing new. Combining them all and actually getting real funding would be new and nice, especially the funding.

Hmm, relying on Moore's Law might be a drawback. We're approaching the physical limits on engineering chips without dropping into quantum physics and we have no evidence that Moore's Law holds up past conventional macro-scale silicon chips.

Dear gods, they want to put the laser on Earth. I thought we were past that idiocy. Either put in at a lagrange point or start landing construction equipment, solar panels, and building materials at a lunar pole. Of course that costs more money.

I wonder if they're considering jettsoning the sail after thrust or keeping it as a debris shield. If it's kept attached to the probe the solar wind off the target star could be an issue, or a bonus. At best it slows the probe down and offers another source of power. At worst it could blow the probe too far off course to be useful.

100 million USD? I have a feeling that's a lowball estimate that doesn't factor in setbacks. Technology advancement for the probes is probably assumable to an extent, but powering lasers up to that level and getting sufficently focussed can't be assumed as normal development. R&D alone on the laser could wipe out 100M easily and building the launch site could eat that much again. Get 500 million USD (any billionaires want to make history?) and I can see it happening, but 100 million is very very cheap for this sort of thing.

Communication back to Earth probably isn't too much of an issue. 20 years of advancements plus knowing where, when, what to look for are an immense advantage. If you can keep up regular launches for 30 years then I could see daisy-chaining the signal back along the line of probes.

I do hope it works out though.

[Bulldog Psion]

It's crazy but I like it. Bring it on! :smallbiggrin:

[Telok]

I checked a bit more. That $100 million is just the research phase. Which is a much more realistic number.

Once that's done and you can ballpark decent development, construction, and running costs it looks like they could be successful. Very nice.

[Yora]

Is anything actually happening? Or was it just two educated men loudly thinking "...yeah, that would be cool."

[Rakaydos]

Is anything actually happening? Or was it just two educated men loudly thinking "...yeah, that would be cool."

"You shoud give us 100 million so we can find out how much it would cost to do."

[Cikomyr]

Dont they have the 100M$ from the billionaire?

[Leewei]

The branding and marketing opportunity here for Firaxis is pretty incredible. Pretty sure their profit margin wouldn't support much of a contribution, but I'd buy a game that contributed a portion of the sales to the Starshot.

[Cikomyr]

The branding and marketing opportunity here for Firaxis is pretty incredible. Pretty sure their profit margin wouldn't support much of a contribution, but I'd buy a game that contributed a portion of the sales to the Starshot.

...what? What does it have to do with Firaxis?

[Leewei]

...what? What does it have to do with Firaxis?

Unfortunately, nothing at the moment. Just saying, if they're looking to raise money, I'd go for this.

[ace rooster]

Making something as fragile as possible and firing a laser at it at more than 10GW/m2 looks interesting. Not impossible, maybe. Certainly not easy. Maybe possible using microwaves aimed at a superconducting surface? Non linear effects may occur at those power levels, and the edges might do something funny, but you might be able to avoid melting it that way. Down side is that any inefficiencies are going to cause the whole thing to fail hilariously, because it is designed to stay so cold.

What sort of temperature are they aiming to keep the sail at? If it is not too hot, you could maybe print electronics onto the whole sail, and get much more computing power that way.

Getting a signal back will be hardest though IMHO. The problem is that energy management and storage are heavy, and any signal will need a lot of power for even a tiny signal.

[Porthos]

Worrying about how the blessed thing would survive the interstellar medium is always the kicker for these things, inn't? Especially for anything at realtivistic speeds. Space may be really really empty, but at sizes like this, it wouldn't take much for it to make a difference.

Still, the idea of sending out hundreds or thousands of them and hoping to get lucky sounds at least semi-interesting. More than a bit dubious about the invocation of Moore's "Law", however.

[Crow]

Getting a signal back will be hardest though IMHO. The problem is that energy management and storage are heavy, and any signal will need a lot of power for even a tiny signal.

What if you split the signal over several different frequencies and put them back together back on earth? Would that reduce the probability of having the signal disrupted or interfered with?