Shooting Tiny, High Speed Bullets at a Spacecraft Could Speed Up Travel to The Stars - ScienceAlert
Today, multiple space agencies are investigating cutting-edge propulsion ideas that will allow for rapid transits to other bodies in the Solar System.
Davoyan's proposal builds on recent work with directed-energy propulsion (DEP) and light sail technology to realize a Solar Gravitational Lens.By positioning a spacecraft at the heliopause (~500 AU from the Sun), astronomers could study exoplanets and distant objects with the resolution of a primary mirror measuring around 100 km (62 miles) in diameter.For this reason, scientists are investigating directed energy (DE) propulsion to accelerate light sails, which could reach another star system in a matter of decades."The pellet beam aims to transform the way deep space is explored by enabling fast transit missions to far-away destinations," said Davoyan.If realized, an SGL spacecraft would allow astronomers to directly image neighboring exoplanets(like Proxima b) with multi pixel resolution and obtain spectra from their atmospheres.