The dream of interstellar travel could be nigh than we cogitate , or at least , that ’s the claim of physicist Gerald Jackson and Steven Howe , who have been working on anantimatterpropulsion system for over a decennary now , as reported byForbes .
Their proposal of marriage is for an antimatter - driven sail that could deliver a 10 - kg ( 22 - pound ) probe to the next near star system , Alpha Centauri , in just 40 years using 17 g ( 0.6 ounces ) of antihydrogen . The large 100 - kg ( 220 Ezra Pound ) sail would be five meters ( 16 feet ) in diam , made of carbon paper , and coated with consume U .
actuation would be driven by antimatter stored by the investigation . When the antihydrogen hits the cruise , the uranium atoms undergo fission . The master product of this nuclear fission is two exchangeable sized atoms with mellow and opposite velocity . One will hit the sail , propelling it forward , and the other will be lost in space . Via this method , the investigator say the probe could reach travel rapidly up to 10 percent the speeding of light , attain the boundary of the Solar System in just 10 years .
One of the main issues that need to be addressed , though , is how to store the antimatter . Antimatter is a mirror version of normal matter , which we are made of . Antimatter particles , like the antielectron and the antiproton , have the same batch of their ordinary issue counterparts but have an opposite guardianship . When matter and antimatter come into impinging they decimate , turn into pure get-up-and-go . It is still not clear why the universe is made of matter instead of antimatter .
The estimate was first propose in 2003 , at theParticle Accelerator Conference , but it was not pursued due to lack of funding . So , Jackson and Howe , via their companyHbar Technologies , are planning to set in motion a Kickstarter political campaign next month that would admit them to construct a proof - of - concept design and a twist to mensurate the knife thrust of such system . They hope to raise $ 200,000 , which will supply financing for the next phase angle of the research .
“ Crowdfunding may be a honorable way to show involvement in the projection when it come time to find bigger investor or governmental livelihood , ” Jackson told Forbes .
“ We will then require funding on the gild of $ 100 million to actually ramp up humble prototype propulsion and power systems . ”
[ H / T : Forbes ]
