The Starflight Handbook A Pioneer's Guide to Interstellar Travel

by Mallove, Eugene F.; Matloff, Gregory L.

• ISBN13: 9780471619123
• ISBN10: 0471619124
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1991-01-16
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

The Starflight Handbook A Pioneer's Guide to Interstellar Travel "The Starflight Handbook is an indispensable compendium of the many and varied methods for traversing the vast interstellar gulf-don't leave the Solar System without it!" -Robert Forward "Very sensible, very complete and useful. Its good use of references and technical ‘sidebars' adds to the book and allows the nontechnical text to be used by ordinary readers in an easy fashion. I certainly would recommend this book to anyone doing any thinking at all about interstellar flight or the notion of possibilities of contacts between hypothetical civilizations in different stat systems." -Louis Friedman Executive Director, The Planetary Society The Starflight Handbook is the first and only compendium on planet Earth of the radical new technologies now on the drawing boards of some of our smartest and most imaginative space scientists and engineers. Scientists and engineers as well as general readers will be captivated by its: In-depth discussions of everything from nuclear pulse propulsion engines to in-flight navigation, in flowing, non-technical language Sidebars and appendices cover technical and mathematical concepts in detail Seventy-five elegant and enlightening illustrations depicting starships and their hardware

Author Biography

About the authors EUGENE F. MALLOVE, ScD, holds advanced degrees in astronautical engineering and environmental science. He is the Chief Science Writer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a nationally syndicated columnist whose articles have frequently appeared in major newspapers including the Washington Post. His recent book, The Quickening Universe, which deals with the origin, evolution, and destiny of the universe, has earned him the reputation of being one of the most stimulating writers on scientific and scientifical/philosophical issues working today. GREGORY LEE MATLOFF, PhD, is Chairman of the Department of Mathematics, St. Hilda’s and St. Hugh’s School, and Adjunct Professor at Long Island University. He has been a professor at Pace University and The City University of New York, and is currently Official Astronomer for The New York Citi Department of Parks and Recreation. Dr. Matloff is the author of numerous technical and popular articles on interstellar travel and has served as a consultant in atmospheric science to NASA.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Introduction to Starflight	1	(16)
Whys and Wherefores	1	(4)
After a Long Distance, Another Long Distance	5	(4)
Scales of Distance	9	(1)
The Not-So-Fixed Stars	10	(1)
Regimes of Starflight	11	(1)
``Catch Me If You Can''	12	(1)
Starflight Propulsion	13	(2)
Ad Astra!	15	(2)
Objectives of Interstellar Missions	17	(20)
Types of Missions	17	(2)
The Sociology of Starflight	19	(3)
Interstellar Precursor Missions	22	(5)
Nearby Star Systems	27	(5)
A Companion to the Sun?	32	(2)
Picking a Destination	34	(3)
Rocket Propulsion for Interstellar Flight	37	(20)
Rocket Fundamentals	37	(3)
The Staging Principle	40	(1)
Conventional Rocket Technology	40	(3)
Electric Propulsion	43	(1)
Nuclear Rockets	44	(5)
Antimatter Rockets	49	(2)
Relativistic vs. Nonrelativistic Rocketry	51	(2)
Comparative Rocket Performance for Starflight	53	(4)
Nuclear Pulse Propulsion	57	(14)
Stealing Promethean Fire	57	(1)
The Impossible Spaceship	58	(2)
Early History of an Idea	60	(1)
Project Orion	61	(5)
Dyson's Starships	66	(1)
Banning the Bomb: Fusion Microexplosions	67	(1)
To the Stars: Project Daedalus	68	(1)
Epilogue	68	(3)
Beamed Energy Propulsion	71	(18)
Cutting Rocketry in Half	71	(1)
Beam-Propelled Light Sails	72	(9)
Starwisp	81	(2)
Beamed Power Rockets and Ramjets	83	(6)
Solar Sail Starships: Clipper Ships of the Galaxy	89	(18)
Sunlight Surfing	89	(3)
The Basic Physics of Solar Sailing	92	(5)
Sail Materials	97	(2)
Sail Design for Interstellar Missions	99	(3)
Icarus-1: A Solar Sail Interstellar Probe	102	(1)
Sark-1: A Solar Sail Interstellar Ark	102	(2)
Effects of the Interplanetary and Interstellar Medium	104	(1)
The Future of Starsails	104	(3)
Fusion Ramjets	107	(16)
Bootstrapping Starflight	107	(1)
The Bussard Ramjet	108	(5)
The Catalytic Ramjet	113	(3)
RAIR: The Ram-Augmented Interstellar Rocket	116	(3)
Fuel for the Starship	119	(4)
Interstellar Ion Scoops	123	(16)
Gathering Almost Nothing	123	(1)
A Superconducting Magnetic Ion Scoop	124	(3)
The Whitmire Electromagnetic Ramscoop	127	(1)
The Matloff/Fennelly Electromagnetic Ion Scoop	128	(5)
Fuel-Gathering Scoops	133	(1)
Deceleration Sails	134	(3)
Other Ion Scoop Applications	137	(2)
Other Novel Advanced Propulsion Concepts	139	(12)
Energy from Astronomical Bodies	139	(4)
Electromagnetic Launchers	143	(2)
Pellet Stream Propulsion	145	(1)
Brainstorms	146	(5)
Interstellar Trajectories	151	(10)
Point and Shoot, or...	151	(1)
Gravity-Assist Trajectories	152	(3)
Solar Sail Trajectories	155	(1)
Fusion-Rocket Trajectories	155	(3)
Ramjet Trajectories	158	(3)
The Interstellar Medium	161	(12)
Properties of the Interstellar Medium	162	(6)
The Starship and the Interstellar Medium	168	(5)
Starship Navigation and Visual Effects in Relativistic Flight	173	(14)
The Problem of Interstellar Navigation	173	(3)
Navigation Measurements in Starflight	176	(6)
Starscapes at Relativistic Speeds	182	(5)
Starflight Between Fact and Fancy	187	(12)
Wormholes in Spacetime	187	(3)
Dean Drives and Other ``Impossibilities''	190	(4)
Superluminal Travel	194	(1)
The Quantum Ramjet	195	(4)
Suspended Animation, Hibernation, and Hypothermia	199	(8)
Searching for Elysium	200	(1)
Cryobiology	201	(1)
Hypothermia and Hibernation	202	(2)
The Dream of Suspended Animation	204	(3)
Scientific Payloads	207	(10)
101 Things to Do Along the Way	209	(1)
Planetology	210	(1)
Exobiology	211	(2)
Communication and Reliability	213	(4)
Detecting Extrasolar Planets	217	(16)
A Venerable Problem	217	(3)
Direct Detection	220	(3)
Indirect Detection Methods	223	(4)
Optical Interferometry	227	(1)
Intimations of Other Worlds	228	(2)
Postscript	230	(3)
Appendices	233	(26)
1 Powers of Ten	233	(1)
2 Units, Constants, and Physical Data	234	(2)
3 Nearby Star Systems	236	(6)
4 Guide to Starflight Literature	242	(4)
5 The Twin ``Paradox''	246	(4)
6 Energy, Efficiency, and Starflight Propulsion	250	(6)
7 Realizing Starflight: A Plan for the Future	256	(3)
References	259	(11)
Index	270