Sons and daughters of the blue planet
Soar upward, disturbing the stars of peace.
The path to interstellar space has been established
For satellites, rockets, scientific stations.
A Russian guy was flying in a rocket, I saw the whole earth from a height.
Gagarin was the first in space.
How will you be?
In 1973, a working group of the British Interplanetary Society began designing the appearance of an interstellar spacecraft capable of traveling 6 light-years in unmanned mode and conducting a brief exploration of the vicinity of Barnard's Star.
The fundamental difference between the British project and the works of science fiction was the original design conditions: in their work, British scientists relied exclusively on real-life technologies or technologies of the near future, the imminent appearance of which is beyond doubt. Fantastic "anti-gravity", unknown "teleportation" and "superluminal engines" were dismissed as exotic and notoriously impossible ideas.
According to the terms of the project, the developers had to abandon even the then popular "photon engine". Despite the theoretical possibility of the existence of a substance annihilation reaction, even the most daring physicists who regularly experiment with hallucinogenic cannabinoids are unable to explain how to put into practice the storage of "antimatter" and how to collect the released energy.
The project received the symbolic name "Daedalus" - in honor of the eponymous hero of the Greek myth, who managed to fly over the sea, in contrast to Icarus, who flew too high.
The Daedalus automatic interstellar spacecraft had a two-stage design.
The meaning of the Daedalus project:
Proof of the possibility of the creation by Mankind of an unmanned spacecraft for the study of stellar systems closest to the Sun.
Technical side of the project:
Investigation from the flyby trajectory of the Barnard's star system (a red dwarf of spectral type M5V at a distance of 5, 91 light years, one of the closest to the Sun and, at the same time, the "fastest" of the stars in the earth's sky. The perpendicular component of the star's velocity to the direction of sight of the earthly observer is 90 km / s, which, coupled with a relatively "close" distance, turns "Flying Barnard" into a real "comet"). The choice of the target was dictated by the theory of the existence of a planetary system at Barnard's star (the theory was later refuted). In our time, the "reference target" is the closest star to the Sun, Proxima Centauri (distance 4, 22 light years).
Moving Barnard's Star in the Earthly Skies
Project conditions:
Unmanned spaceship. Only realistic technologies of the near future. The maximum flight time to the star is 49 years! According to the terms of Project Daedalus, those who created the interstellar ship should have been able to find out the results of the mission during their lifetime. In other words, to reach Barnard's Star in 49 years, the spaceship would need a cruising speed of the order of 0.1 times the speed of light.
Initial data:
British scientists had a rather impressive "set" of all modern achievements of Human civilization: nuclear technology, uncontrolled thermonuclear reaction, lasers, plasma physics, manned space launches into near-earth orbit,technologies for joining and carrying out assembly work of large-sized objects in outer space, systems of long-range space communications, microelectronics, automation and precision engineering. Is this enough to "touch your hand" to the stars?
Not far from here - one taxi stop
Overflowing with sweet dreams and pride in the achievements of the Human Mind, the reader is already running to buy a ticket on an interstellar ship. Alas, his joy is premature. The universe has prepared its terrifying response to the pathetic attempts of humans to reach the nearest stars.
If you reduce the size of a star like the Sun to the size of a tennis ball, the entire solar system will fit in Red Square. The dimensions of the Earth, in this case, will generally be reduced to the size of a grain of sand.
At the same time, the nearest "tennis ball" (Proxima Centauri) will lie in the middle of Alexanderplatz in Berlin, and a little more distant Barnard's star - on Piccadilly Circus in London!
Voyager 1 position on February 8, 2012. Distance 17 light hours from the Sun.
The monstrous distances cast doubt on the very idea of interstellar travel. The unmanned station Voyager 1, launched in 1977, took 35 years to cross the solar system (the probe went beyond it on August 25, 2012 - on that day the last echoes of the "solar wind" melted behind the station's stern, while the intensity galactic radiation). It took 35 years to fly the Red Square. How long will it take for Voyager to fly “from Moscow to London”?
Around us are quadrillion kilometers of black abyss - do we have a chance to fly to the nearest star in at least half an earthly century?
I will send a ship for you …
No one doubted that the Daedalus would have monstrous dimensions - only the "payload" could reach hundreds of tons. In addition to comparatively light astrophysical instruments, detectors and television cameras, a rather large compartment for controlling the ship's systems, a computing center, and, most importantly, a communication system with the Earth is needed on board the ship.
Modern radio telescopes have tremendous sensitivity: the transmitter of Voyager 1, located at a distance of 124 astronomical units (124 times farther than from the Earth to the Sun), has a power of only 23 watts - less than a light bulb in your refrigerator. Surprisingly, this turned out to be enough to ensure uninterrupted communication with the device at a distance of 18.5 billion kilometers! (a prerequisite - the position of Voyager in space is known with an accuracy of 200 meters)
Barnard's Star is 5.96 light-years from the Sun - 3,000 times farther than Voyager. Obviously, in this case, a 23-watt interceptor cannot be dispensed with - the incredible distance and significant error in determining the position of the starship in space will require a radiation power of hundreds of kilowatts. With all the ensuing requirements for the dimensions of the antenna.
British scientists have named a very definite figure: the payload of the Daedalus spacecraft (the mass of the control compartment, scientific instruments and communication system) will be about 450 tons. For comparison, the mass of the International Space Station to date has exceeded 417 tons.
The required payload for the starship is within realistic limits. In addition, given the progress in microelectronics and space technology over the past 40 years, this figure may decrease slightly.
Engine and fuel. The extreme energy consumption of interstellar travel is becoming a key barrier to such expeditions.
British scientists adhered to a simple logic: Which of the known methods of obtaining energy is the most productive? The answer is obvious - thermonuclear fusion. Are we able to create a stable "thermonuclear reactor" today? Alas, no, all attempts to create a "controlled thermonuclear core" end in failure. Output? We'll have to use an explosive reaction. Spaceship "Daedalus" turns into "explode" with a pulsed thermonuclear rocket engine.
The principle of operation in theory is simple: “targets” from a frozen mixture of deuterium and helium-3 are fed into the working chamber. The target is heated by a pulse of lasers - a tiny thermonuclear explosion follows - and, voila, the release of energy to accelerate the ship!
The calculation showed that for the effective acceleration of the Daedalus, it would be necessary to produce 250 explosions per second - therefore, the targets must be fed into the combustion chamber of a pulsed thermonuclear engine at a speed of 10 km / s!
This is pure fantasy - in reality there is not a single workable sample of a pulsed thermonuclear engine. Moreover, the unique characteristics of the engine and the high requirements for its reliability (the engine of a starship must operate continuously for 4 years) turn the conversation about the starship into a meaningless story.
On the other hand, there is not a single element in the design of a pulsed thermonuclear engine that has not been tested in practice - superconducting solenoids, high-power lasers, electron guns … all this has long been mastered by industry and is often brought to mass production. We have a well-developed theory and rich practical developments in the field of plasma physics - it's just a matter of creating a pulsed engine based on these systems.
The estimated mass of the spacecraft structure (engine, tanks, supporting trusses) is 6170 tons, excluding fuel. Basically, the figure sounds realistic. No tenths of degrees and countless zeros. To deliver such a quantity of metal structures to low-earth orbit, it would take "only" 44 launches of the mighty Saturn-5 rocket (payload 140 tons with a launch weight of 3000 tons).
Super-heavy launch vehicle N-1, launch weight 2735 … 2950 tons
Until now, these figures theoretically fit into the capabilities of modern industry, although they required some development of modern technologies. It's time to ask the main question: what is the required mass of fuel to accelerate the starship to 0, 1 the speed of light? The answer sounds frightening and, at the same time, encouraging - 50,000 tons of nuclear fuel. Despite the seeming improbability of this figure, it is "only" half the displacement of the American nuclear aircraft carrier. Another thing is that modern cosmonautics is not yet ready to work with such bulky structures.
But the main problem was different: the main component of the fuel for a pulsed thermonuclear engine is the rare and expensive isotope Helium-3. The current production volume of helium-3 does not exceed 500 kg per year. At the same time, 30,000 tons of this specific substance will need to be poured into the Daedalus tanks.
Comments are superfluous - there is no such amount of helium-3 on Earth. "British scientists" (this time you can deservedly take the expression in quotation marks) suggested building "Daedalus" in the orbit of Jupiter and refueling it there, extracting fuel from the upper cloud layer of the giant planet.
Pure futurism multiplied by absurdity.
Despite the overall disappointing picture, the Daedalus project showed that the existing scientific knowledge is sufficient to send an expedition to the nearest stars. The problem lies in the scale of work - we have working samples of "Tokamaks", superconducting electromagnets, cryostats and Dewar vessels in ideal laboratory conditions, but we have absolutely no idea how their hypertrophied copies weighing hundreds of tons will work. How to ensure the continuous operation of these fantastic structures for many years - all this in the harsh conditions of outer space, without any possibility of repair and maintenance by humans.
While working on the appearance of the starship "Daedalus", scientists were faced with many minor, but no less important problems. In addition to the already mentioned doubts about the reliability of the pulsed thermonuclear engine, the creators of the interstellar spacecraft faced the problem of balancing the giant ship, its correct acceleration and orientation in space. There were also positive moments - over the 40 years that have passed since the start of work on the Daedalus project, the problem with the digital computing complex on board the ship has been successfully solved. The colossal progress in microelectronics, nanotechnology, the emergence of substances with unique characteristics - all this significantly simplified the conditions for creating a starship. Also, the problem of deep space communication was successfully solved.
But until now no solution has been found to the classic problem - the safety of an interstellar expedition. At a speed of 0, 1 of the speed of light, any speck of dust becomes a dangerous obstacle to the ship, and a tiny meteorite the size of a flash drive can be the end of the entire expedition. In other words, the ship has every chance of being burned up before it reaches its target. The theory proposes two solutions: the first "line of defense" - a protective cloud of microparticles held by a magnetic field a hundred kilometers ahead of the ship. The second "line of defense" is a metal, ceramic or composite shield to reflect fragments of decayed meteorites. If everything is more or less clear about the design of the shield, then even Nobel Prize winners in physics do not know how to implement in practice a "protective cloud of microparticles" at a considerable distance from the ship. It is clear that with the help of a magnetic field, but here's how exactly …
… The ship is sailing in an icy void. It has been 50 years since he left the solar system and a long journey stretches behind the "Daedalus" for six light years. The dangerous Kuiper belt and the mysterious Oort cloud have been safely crossed, fragile instruments have withstood the streams of galactic rays and the cruel cold of open Space … The soon planned rendezvous with the Barnard's star system … but what does this chance meeting in the middle of the endless stellar ocean promise the messenger of the distant Earth? New dangers from colliding with large meteorites? Magnetic fields and deadly radiation belts in the vicinity of "running Barnard"? Unexpected outbursts of protruberans? Time will tell … "Daedalus" in two days will rush past the star and disappear forever in the vastness of the Cosmos.
Daedalus versus the 102-story Empire State Building
The Empire State Building, a key landmark in the New York skyline. Height without spire 381 m, height with spire 441 meters
Daedalus versus the Saturn V super-heavy launch vehicle
Saturn V on the launch pad
