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[1] [37]: 31 The solar shield is hexagonal, mounted on the Sun-facing side of the spacecraft, 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) in diameter, [38] 11.4 cm (4.5 in) thick, and is made of two panels of reinforced carbon–carbon composite with a lightweight 11-centimeter-thick (4.5 in) carbon foam core, [39] which is designed to withstand temperatures outside the ...
A Bussard ramjet, one of many possible methods that could serve to propel spacecraft. Interstellar travel is the hypothetical travel of spacecraft between star systems.Due to the vast distances between the Solar System and nearby stars, interstellar travel is not practicable with current propulsion technologies.
The Alcubierre drive ([alkuˈβjere]) is a speculative warp drive idea according to which a spacecraft could achieve apparent faster-than-light travel by contracting space in front of it and expanding space behind it, under the assumption that a configurable energy-density field lower than that of vacuum (that is, negative mass) could be created.
The spacecraft of George O. Smith's Venus Equilateral stories are all constant acceleration ships. Normal acceleration is 1 g, but in "The External Triangle" it is mentioned that accelerations of up to 5 g are possible if the crew is drugged with gravanol [11] to counteract the effects of the g-load.
Miguel Alcubierre theorized that it would be possible to create a warp drive, in which a ship would be enclosed in a "warp bubble" where the space at the front of the bubble is rapidly contracting and the space at the back is rapidly expanding, with the result that the bubble can reach a distant destination much faster than a light beam moving ...
The spaceship’s propulsion system, for example, has been altered to increase the propellant volume by 25%. The ability to hold more fuel allows the craft to fire its engines for a longer duration.
However, it is not the fastest spacecraft to leave the Solar System. As of July 2023 [update] , this record is held by Voyager 1 , traveling at 16.985 km/s (61,146 km/h; 37,994 mph) relative to the Sun. [ 158 ] Voyager 1 attained greater hyperbolic excess velocity than New Horizons due to gravity assists by Jupiter and Saturn.
However, this was a second-generation vision for a probe and the study acknowledged that even 20 AU/year might not be possible with then current (2002) technology. [39] For comparison, the fastest probe at the time of the study was Voyager 1 at about 3.6 AU/year (17 km/s), relative to the Sun. [23] Interstellar Probe (1999)