Space & Cosmos

Ion engines could take us to the Sun’s gravitational lens within 13 years, paper suggests

ion thruster. Credit: NASA

Sending objects to other stars is still science fiction. But with some specific missions, you might be able to get at least halfway there. These “interstellar precursor missions” involve trips to the Sun’s gravitational lensing point, which is 550 astronomical units from the Sun. This is further away than any previous man-made object, including Voyager.

Getting there will require many new technologies, and a recent paper presented at the 75th International Astronautical Congress in Milan this month suggests that one of those potential technologies is electric propulsion. system, also known as ion drive, is being considered.

The purpose of this paper was to assess when existing ion drive technologies can deliver large payloads to any of multiple orbits. These orbits include orbiting Jupiter, visiting Pluto, and even reaching the legendary Sun’s gravitational lens. To do so, we specified an “ideal” ion drive with properties that allow us to achieve optimal values ​​for some of the system’s physical properties.

The first feature is the power plant. For an ion thruster to last more than 10 years under thrust, it needs a power source and is effective. In this paper, we defined an ideal power plan that can output 1 kW per kg of weight.

This is currently well beyond the realm of possibility, with the best ion thruster power supplies delivering around 10 W per kg, and nuclear propulsion systems delivering 100 W per kg. There are some potentially better technologies on the horizon, but none tested in the literature yet meet this requirement.

Mr. Fraser discusses the concept of solar gravitational lensing with Dr. Slava Turishev

Thrust efficiency is also a consideration in this ideal mission. The authors, writing under the banner of the Interstellar Research Initiative, a UK-based non-profit organization, suggest that the ideal thrust efficiency is 97%. This also significantly improves existing technology, with practical models averaging close to 75% to 80% efficiency.

Additional improvements, such as magnetic confinement fields around the thruster walls, could further increase this number. Still, as you approach the 97% range, efficiency gains become increasingly difficult to spot.

The final characteristic the authors considered was specific impulses. This has the most comprehensive variability regarding the theoretical possibilities of all three systems. Their ideal value of 34,000 to 76,000 seconds for specific impulse is well within the range of potential values ​​for more speculative technologies.

The paper states that with proper thruster and propellant selection, specific impulse values ​​twice the recommended upper range may be possible. They also point out that the development of these technologies has stalled not because drives with better specific impulse cannot be manufactured, but because the power plants to support them cannot yet be manufactured. Masu. Therefore, solving power plant problems will allow further development in this field.

Fraser explains more about ion engines and why they are so efficient.

Assume that all three properties combine into a fully functional propulsion system. In this case, the authors calculate that a payload of almost 18,000 kg could be delivered to the Sun’s gravitational lens in just 13 years. This is much faster than previous missions.

But that optimization is still a long way off, and while there are missions scheduled to someday be deployed to the SGL, it will still take quite a while to launch, and even longer to reach the SGL. Masu. In the meantime, there are some additional problems to solve if engineers want to optimize the potential of ion thrusters.

More information: Paper: Advanced electric propulsion system with optimal specific impulse for high-speed interstellar precursor missions

Provided by Universe Today

Citation: Paper suggests ion engines could take us into the Sun’s gravitational lens within 13 years (October 25, 2024) (October 25, 2024 at https:// Retrieved from phys.org/news/2024-10-ion-solar-gravitational) -lensyear.html

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