14 DAY TRIAL // A special branch of the United States military and the American space agency are working together on making interstellar space travel possible within the next century or so. As part of this initiative, they collaboration is now calling for proposals on the technologies that should be pursued to this end.
There are two primary directions of research in the 100-Year Starship project, experts say. First, this type of transportation needs to become possible. Then, scientists have to make it practical.
At this point, experts are only in the planning stages of the mission, which means that they have to get on with studying the approach they want to take for developing the spacecraft. They still don't know about the technologies that will go on board as work progresses.
In order to make the 100-Year Starship project a reality, NASA is collaborating with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Recently, the latter put out a request for information (RFI) to all those interested in this endeavor.
Just to be clear, DARPA is not calling on scientists to produce early sketches or designs, but rather to help organize the project into more manageable portions. It also wants to make the entire endeavor more feasible from a financial point of view.
“We are seeking ideas for an organization, business model and approach appropriate for a self-sustaining investment vehicle,” the official DARPA request reads. The document was made available on May 5, Space reports.
“This RFI is intended to solicit ideas and information on structure and approach, and identify parties qualified and interested in furthering the 100-Year Starship effort,” the release goes on to say.
Understandably, we cannot expect to complete an interstellar journey with today's technologies. Numerous innovations will go in this project, if experts get on it. But undoubtedly, its most important component is the propulsion system.
At this point, the NASA New Horizons spacecraft is the fastest man-made vehicle ever built, and it too needs more than a decade to reach the dwarf planet Pluto, at the edge of the solar system.
Over the past 34 years, Voyager 1 traveled around 11 billion miles (17 billion kilometers), to the point where it's about to exit the solar system altogether. But the nearest star is 25 trillion miles (40 trillion kilometers) away.
“The 100-Year Starship Study is a project seeded by DARPA to develop a viable and sustainable model for persistent, long-term, private-sector investment into the myriad of disciplines needed to make long-distance space travel practicable and feasible,” the same request goes on to say.
“The respondent must focus on flexible yet robust mechanisms by which an endowment can be created and sustained, wholly devoid of government subsidy or control, and by which worthwhile undertakings – in the sciences, engineering, humanities, or the arts – may be awarded in pursuit of the vision of interstellar flight,” it concludes.