Questions tagged [space-travel]
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Could you use a synchrotron particle accelerator in a descending spiral pattern to create ion thrust for space travel?
Would it be theoretically possible to use a synchrotron particle accelerator that utilizes a spiral pattern to create ion thrust for space travel?
In this scenario, ions would be accelerated in a ...
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Is the kind of physics proposed for "warp drive" related to the way that space really is expanding?
As I understand, some parts of Universe really are moving faster than light -- is this expansion something we think we can create artificially?
And if we can do this artificially, could it be done a ...
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tGiven a propulsion system with constant power, how long does it take to travel a given distance in space? (non-rel. and relativistic)
Suppose a space ship of mass $m$ is travelling away from our solar system, starting with "starting speed" $v_{start} > v_{escape\ \odot}$, meaning it will escape sun and have some ...
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Is an Aldrin Cycler which encounters three or four bodies possible?
Is it possible for an Aldrin Cycler to work multi-moon system like the Jovian system, encountering at least three bodies?
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For someone staying on Earth, what is the minimum possible time to send a spaceship to Alpha Centauri and have it back?
Suppose we want to send a spaceship to Alpha Centauri and calculate the minimum possible time it will take for us here on Earth to have the spaceship back. We are not interested in how fast the time ...
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How does the James Webb Space Telescope avoid stick/slip and creep problems when positioning its mirrors?
The JWST is now positioning its mirrors so they form a single image. How James Webb's Mirrors MUST Work To do this, each mirror must be positioned in 8 nanometer steps in 6 degrees of freedom. Here is ...
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On which speed the relic microwave background radiation becomes dangerous for the people on space ship?
If we travel with speed close to the speed of light, the light waves becomes shorter and their energy increases (because we flight through much more light for the same time).
So, even background ...
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Why is the JWST orbit only taking 30 days?
Presumably the Ariane 5 rocket launched the James Webb Space Telescope into an elliptical orbit with its apogee at the L2 point. Such an orbit’s period is about 70 days, i.e. the journey to L2 should ...
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Interrupted Laser propulsion and relativity
I have seen concerns that in order for a laser sail ship to work, the laser on Earth has to continue operating for centuries, which there is no gurantee of.
If the laser stopped operating after 300 ...
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Circling a Cosmic string in less than 360 degrees for faster space travel?
I've red that Cosmic strings would warp space such that one could circle a cosmic string in less than 360 degrees. How few degrees?
If a ship were to circle a cosmic string in a spiral pattern, saving ...
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Would light sails be a practical means of travel in the center of Andromeda? [closed]
I've read that at Andromeda's center, stars are only 0.008 lightyears apart from each other. Is this a short enough distance for light sails to be a practical means of space travel, or is this still ...
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What’s the offset distance for a Mars Fly-by?
Would anyone know where to look or know how to calculate the offset distance at which fly-by on Mars may be performed. It’s the variable ‘x’ in the formula 8.3-20. (Bate Mueller Astrodynamics ...
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Derivation of time dilation formula [duplicate]
When we derive the formula of time dilation using light clocks, we always consider the projected light pulse in direction perpendicular to spaceship. What if we take the direction of light pulse in ...
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This is a doubt regarding special theory of relativity [closed]
If a beam of light is seen from a moving spaceship in same direction as spaceship, we will observe that speed of light hasnt changed as our time has slowed down but what would happen if we see a light ...
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Calculate point of rotation start for spacecraft with linear acceleration
I hope someone can help me with my problem.
I would like to move a spaceship from A to B. I want the spaceship to accelerate to the middle of the path, then rotate 180° and then decelerate.
Now the ...
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Question about transfer of momentum in photons
Imagine a photon hits an object, then bounces off and travels in the other direction, all while retaining it’s wavelength.
If the object is slightly accelerated in the direction of the incident photon’...
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How fast could 1,767 cubic feet of fusion fuel propel a starship? [closed]
I'm designing a starship that could go to Alpha Centauri in under 15 years. My design goes at a top speed of 0.5c. Assuming the fuel is in gaseous form, could this provide enough energy to propel it? (...
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Questions on the notion of an inertial frame of reference
Imagine an astronaut flying in an spaceship at a constant speed in completely empty space, with no acceleration whatsoever, and no outside references, just dark empty space.
Q: Can the astronaut tell ...
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The pioneer anomaly [closed]
The RTG's powering the electronics had to reject hundreds of watts of black body radiation to space. The RTG’s reflected a portion of their radiation onto the backside of the main paraboidal antenna, ...
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Energy distorting space
We know that mass distort space and time. Can energy do the same? How much heat will it take to create an observable effect? can we make a warp drive on that principle? By heating one end of a space ...
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Does the Parker Solar Probe experience radiation pressure being so close to the sun?
Since the Parker Solar Probe does close fly-bys around the sun, does it experience any significant radiation pressure from photons emitted by the sun?
Is this push, significant enough to require ...
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Could you use a balloon to show the drag from the gas/atmosphere of something orbitting near the ISS?
If a balloon were floating next to the International Space Station (ISS), how big, light, and/or dense would it need to be such that the gas/atmosphere at that distance from the earth's surface would ...
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How would a neutral hydrogen gas interact with a relativistic spacecraft?
Inspired by a discussion from the comment thread of a gaming youtube video, I've been thinking about what kind of radiation environment a relativistic spacecraft would be exposed to as it passes ...
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Can civilizations orbiting black holes keep time with their interstellar travellers?
Due to relativistic-velocity interstellar travel time dilation, travellers would return in the far future of any civilization launching such an effort. A chart from wikipedia indicates typical time ...
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Wave drag in the interstellar medium
In Earth's atmosphere, an object moving at supersonic or near-supersonic speed experiences wave drag due to the formation of shock waves around the object's leading edge. At high speeds, wave drag is ...
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Accelerating a spaceship to near speed of light
Hypothetically, suppose we have the ability to accelerate a spaceship to near speed of light (lets say 0.9c). From what I remember of relativistic kinematics, the energy required to accelerate the ...
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Could cosmic rays be used for power on Mars?
Most studies of radiation levels of Mars that I can easily find focus on it as a hazard for potential human visitors. As such, a figure in rads or Sieverts is provided, which lumps together all of the ...
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Can we connect several Nano Spacecraft moving at 20% speed of light? [closed]
Nano spacecrafts are one gram silicon chips that will be accelerated to 20% of the speed of light to reach Alpha Centauri in 20 years.
I wonder could we connect several spacecraft after they were ...
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What happens with trash that is left after a satellite expires?
I was reading an article that Japan is experimenting with wooden chassis for satellites so that they can keep the trash minimal. I was wondering if it was possible to design the satellites in a way ...
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"To come back to Earth...it can be five times the force of gravity" - video editor's mistake?
I've watched The Truth About Gravity With Professor Jim Al-Khalili | Gravity And Me | Spark where astronaut Chris Hadfield says at 3:55:
To come back to Earth is violent
Then after several seconds ...
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If 2 spaceships left Earth for the galactic centre, travelling near the speed of light, but they left an hour apart, would they arrive an hour apart?
If a spaceship left Earth for the galactic center at 3pm one day, traveling at extremely close to the speed of light (say 99.9999999%), then a second spaceship left at 4pm, would they arrive an hour ...
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At 50% c, I go party to IC1101 galaxy, and back home. How many times can i go before the expansion of the universe will lock me on one side? [closed]
Longer version of the question:
Let's say I'm an immortal being (I could be artificial) going to "party" to IC1101, one of the biggest galaxies of the universe, 1 billion light-years away ...
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Voyager distance
This very nice NASA page continuously updates Voyager 1 & 2 distance away.
How is that distance calculated/determined?
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Dark energy as negative matter for Alcubierre drive
Can dark energy be used for the Alcubierre drive as a substitute for negative mass? After all, to make the Alcubierre drive work, it is necessary to expand the universe behind it, and that is what ...
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How exactly does a control moment gyroscope work?
I've searched a lot, but have not been able to find a proper explanation for the working of a control moment gyroscope. Could someone please explain it to me, preferably with vectors?
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Could light from the Sun be used to power the Breakthrough Starshot microships?
The Breakthrough Starshot initiative aims to accelerate a swarm of 16m$^2$-area solar sails to 15% of $c$ using Earth-based lasers in the order of 100GW power in 10 minute bursts. Considering loses ...
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Why don’t astronauts “push” spacecraft?
Perhaps it goes without saying, but according to Newton’s laws “every action has an equal and opposite reaction”. How do astronauts, especially those inside small spacecraft like the Crew Dragon, not “...
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How does a rocket slow down in space?
I’ve been reading about the conservation of momentum and its applications in deriving the rocket equation. I’m curious whether how can a rocket slow down in space. As far as i can comprehend, a rocket’...
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How close would a supernova be to endanger the astronauts on the ISS?
How close would a supernova be to endanger the astronauts on the ISS?
Would Betelgeuse be close enough?
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Physics of Project Orion
I was reading the book "Project Orion" by George Dyson. For those who are unaware, Project Orion was basically a plan to launch a spaceship by flinging bombs out the rear and detonating them. The ...
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Travelling in outerspace
Firstly, is it correct that for travel in outer space, the distance that can be travelled with a given amount of fuel is determined by the energy required to overcome the following forces: gravity ...
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From a traveler's point of view, what prevents him from reaching speed faster than light? [duplicate]
From a traveler's point of view, as he is accelerating with $1g$, in under one year he would reach the speed of light. Note that from his point of view, everything looks normal so he could keep ...
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Constant $g$ acceleration from astronaut's frame of reference
When a spaceship is experiencing a constant acceleration of $10m/s^2$, the astronauts will be moving at nearly the speed of light after about a year in the earth's reference frame. This means the ...
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Do radioactive objects accelerate in space?
Americium tends to radiate mostly as alpha particles. It would seem to me that as particles irradiated away, they would transfer momentum and the object would accelerate in the opposite direction. If ...
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Why can't we fly aeroplane or shuttle directly into the space (beyond 100 km height above Earth's surface)? [duplicate]
Without rockets can we go beyond Karmans line by shuttle or plane?
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How to interpret doppler curve images of Chandrayaan-2 lander?
The frequency transmission data for Vikram, lander of Chandrayaan-2, received by 25 meter Dwingeloo radio telescope is plotted and tweeted by Cees Bassa. Kinks in the Doppler curve are interpreted as ...
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Simplified calculation of the amount of fuel required for a trip — are my calculations faulty?
I've been always fascinated with how easily scifi characters travel around the Solar system and sometimes the galaxy. They just hop into a spacecar and go wherever they want.
So I've come up with a ...
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How to travel between two stationary worlds in the least amount of proper time?
I was intrigued by this question about minimizing the travel time between two worlds that are at rest with respect to each other, and disappointed that the answer turned out to be trivial. However, I ...
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How to travel between two stationary worlds in the least amount of time? (time dilation)
Let's imagine there are two, isolated, stationary worlds in space (called A and B), very far apart from each other. I live on World A, and some aliens live on World B.
I want to learn about the ...
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Why don't spacecraft accelerate to the speed of light, or just fractionally below that?
In space there is almost nothing to slow you down, and your proppelent/S will always be traveling relatively faster than your craft so you should accelerate infinitely close to the speed of light ...
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