Icarus project

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The Icarus project is a follow-up study to the Daedalus project , which was initiated by the British Interplanetary Society and the Joint Tau Zero Foundation on September 30, 2009. With the study, which should run until 2014, the interstellar unmanned spacecraft Daedalus is to be revised. One of the main focuses is on the fusion drive, the technological maturity of which is to be further increased in the end.

The name of the project Icarus is based on Greek mythology, according to which Icarus “touched the sky” before he came too close to the sun and fell back to earth. The intention of the project is that Icarus should "touch" the stars (fly past another star system ).

background

The incentive to revise the Daedalus concept is the technological development over the past 30 years and the publication of further drive concept studies. In addition to the technological advances in fusion using magnetic confinement or inertial fusion , numerous extrasolar planets have been discovered since the late 1990s . Based on the discoveries made so far, the study aims to increase the distance to 12 light years . This enables research into 20 possible candidates, including Epsilon Eridani and Tau Ceti .

Framework conditions of the study

The study has set itself the following goal:

  1. Development of a realistic concept for a potential mission in the next few decades
  2. Assessment of the degree of technological maturity of fusion-based space drives and the possibility of a direct comparison between Daedalus and Icarus
  3. Generating greater interest in interstellar space travel

The following boundary conditions were set:

  1. An unmanned spacecraft is to be designed that will be used to explore a nearby star system
  2. The spacecraft should consist of technologies that already exist or in the near future and should be able to be launched as soon as possible (under realistic assumptions)
  3. The travel time should be as short as possible
  4. The spacecraft should be able to achieve several goals
  5. The drive should be fusion-based
  6. The spacecraft should have the ability to decelerate in order to increase the duration of the flyby can

Others

Although the (main) propulsion system of the spacecraft should be based on nuclear fusion, there are considerations to equip certain mission sections or possibly space probes with solar sails ( solar or laser-assisted).

See also

Web links

  • PERIOD 2009-2014. (PDF; 2.3 MB) Joint Tau Zero Foundation, British Interplanetary Society, May 12, 2010, accessed April 30, 2011 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e K. F. Long et al .: PROJECT ICARUS: Son of Daedalus Flying Closer to Another Star . Ed .: Joint Tau Zero Foundation, British Interplanetary Society. May 24, 2010, arxiv : 1005.3833 (English).
  2. ^ Pat Galea: PROJECT ICARUS: Solar Sail Technology for the Icarus Interstellar Mission. (PDF; 296 kB) Project Icarus Study Group, accessed on April 30, 2011 (English).