Photon beam propulsion
The photon beam drive is a theoretical drive proposed by Eugen Sänger in 1955 for interstellar space travel , in which antimatter is completely converted into gamma ray energy by reacting with matter , which is then supposed to provide the necessary thrust to reach speeds close to the speed of light . Since then the entire fuel into kinetic energy would be converted, it would result in the best possible ratio of mitzuführendem fuel and resulting kinetic energy.
The time dilation , which takes effect at almost the speed of light, would then enable the astronauts to reach distant stars within a life span. However, many times the time would pass on Earth, so that the astronauts could only return to a distant future.
Due to the difficulty of producing or storing antimatter, this type of propulsion is currently (as of 2016) technically not feasible. Furthermore, there is also no light source available that would be so intense that sufficient thrust would result for a rocket drive.
literature
- Singer, Eugen (1956) - On the mechanics of the photon beam. drives <Dt. Fassg.>
- DER SPIEGEL 43/1958: Article about 'Professor Dr.-Ing. Eugen Singer ', p. 71
- Rocket Propellants, Professor Dr.-Ing. Armin Dadieu, Dipl.-Phys. Dr. rer. nat. Ralf Damm, Dipl.-Chem. Dr. rer. nat. Eckart W. Schmidt, Springer Verlag (1968), ISBN 978-3-7091-7132-5 - Chapter 2.5. Photon propulsion