Spacecraft Design Specialists Talk about Feasibility of Interstellar Journey

NASA researchers recently announced the discovery of another planet, about 95 percent the size of Earth, 100 light-years away, that could potentially support life.

Will this new discovery lead humans to one day travel to planet TOI 700 e and enjoy its resources, such as liquid? This is a natural question people will ask, but they may not like the current answers.

“It’s not going to happen in our lifetime, but it’s interesting to discuss,” said Dr. Hank Pernicka, Curatorial Distinguished Teaching Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Missouri S&T. “This planet is 100 light-years away. This means that if we develop a spacecraft Traveling at the speed of light, it would still take 100 years to reach the destination. ”

This speed of light That’s 186,000 miles per second. Pernicka, Specialist spacecraft designsaying that the first problem to consider is getting the vehicle to the desired speed star trek.

“There’s going to be a lot of hurdles, the first of which is even getting that fast,” he said. “The concept of a light-year and the distances involved in this travel are exciting.”

Another area to consider is uncertainty in the spacecraft itself, Pernicka said.

“When driving at these speeds, there are a lot of variables to consider,” he said. “For example, even a small piece of debris in the path of a spacecraft can cause a lot of damage.”

The means of fueling the spacecraft must also be considered.Currently, any long-distance mission sponsored by NASA uses nuclear power, and that fuel source will eventually be used up.

For example, NASA’s Voyager 1, launched in 1977, was the only spacecraft to travel to Earth interstellar space, may run out of fuel in the next few years.this space probeTraveling at about 38,000 mph, it is now more than 14.8 billion miles from Earth.

“Voyager 1 has had an amazing journey and has defied all of NASA’s expectations, but it’s nowhere near a light-year away,” Pernicka said.

The key to achieving the necessary speed one day may lie in the concept of solar sails, which use the pressure of solar radiation to propel spacecraft, Pernicka said. Another option might be to use wormholes, but neither option is likely to be available anytime soon, he said.

“With wormholes, it’s almost a cheat,” he said. “However, it is theoretically possible. In that case, we would need to develop the spacecraft to survive the journey, which could be very violent.”

even the interstellar visitor even space probe Might not be heading to planet TOI 700 e anytime soon, Pernicka remains hopeful for the future Space travelling With contributions from Missouri S&T.

The university has professors in multiple disciplines who study the universe in a variety of ways, Pernicka said. He said his current projects include developing satellites using thruster technology that will be launched in cooperation with NASA in the next few years, and developing inspection satellites for the U.S. military.

“The research we’re doing is out of this world,” Pernicka said. “I’m excited to see how our efforts will continue to impact future space travel.”