Re: antimatter rockets

On Jan 3, 2:53 pm, "D. Orbitt" <msu1049...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
I really liked the idea of Bob Forward's Starwisp. Modern materials
science makes it more possible than ever to start on it, I think. I
also like that the SPS to power it is dual-function, spending 50 weeks
a year sending clean power to Earth.

An optical version of it is also possible. That exercise also
prepares us for sending massive quantities of energy across the solar
system too.

www.niac.usra.edu/files/studies/final_report/4Landis.pdf

488 MW laser in space can accelerate a sapphire dielectric sail to 10%
light speed in 8.5 days with very modest optics, compared to Forward's
reference mission.

I think the author of this paper interesting because when I first
talked about these things in 1996-98 time frame, Landis was one of my
roundest critics. Just goes to show why some people criticize without
support - to get information, and garner all credit to themselves. ah
well. c'est la vie.

The report here is accurate though.

We can build inflatable thin film concentrators with existing
launchers, or near term NOVA class Heavy RLVs to create GW scale laser
systems in one or two launches. These laser systems beam IR laser
energy to multiple points on Earth using 4 wave mixing of laser energy
in a holographic like emitter - where the IR laser energy - invisible
to human eyes - impinges on centralized arrays of silicon cells that
converts the laser energy efficiently to DC electricity and thence to
hydrogen - increasing the solar array output 5x to 10x their solar
output in a year - with little modification of the terrestrial
system.

As shown above in Landis' paper, a portion of the output of these GW
scale systems can be used to launch irather large nterstellar fly by
missions - or even interplanetary flyby missions - or oort cloud flyby
missions to places like Sedna

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/planet_like_body.html
http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/sedna/

Sedna has an orbital radius of about 76 AU which is 11.4 billion
km. Accelerating to 10% the speed of light at 43 gees takes about
8.5 days of accelerating and is completed in about this same
distance. So, it might be interesting to send the first laser
propelled probe past Sedna to check out the flyby systems at speed.
Accelerating to 8% the speed of light and then adding another 2% -
lateral velocity after encounter with a distant object like Sedna -
would allow an 11 degree deflection - so, if the target star were
within a cone 22 degrees wide around the target planet - then you
could do both.

Interestingly Pluto would be way too close to encounter at speed.
You'd be around 3% light speed when you flew by Pluto - about 3 days
after leaving Earth.

Humanity uses about 15 TW of energy. This translates to 20 TW of
solar power satellites. 1,000 satellites of 20 GW each in GEO beaming
energy across the planet. A small percentage of the output of one
satellite would support a Starwisp mission every week!!! A small
portion of the taxes on the $4 trillion per year would support the $40
billion per year payload program.

From a business perspective, you proceed as follows;

(1) Low cost terrestrial power
(2) Delta class RLV
(a) space tourism
(b) minimum moon return mission
(c) Teledesic style direct satellite network
(i) wireless universal broadband
(ii) universal telerobotics
(iii) universal financial services
(3) NOVA class 'heavy' RLV
(a) space hotel
(b) lunar outpost
(c) minimum manned mars missions
(d) laser powersat network
(i) laser rocket propulsion
(ii) laser light sail
(*) optical starwisp
(4) Laser Interplanetary Cycler Stage
(a) Lunar and Mars Industrial development
(b) Asteroidal Industrial development
(c) Near Sun High Intensity Power Sat
(d) Large Optical Deep Space Placement
(5) Heavy Laser Power Sat
(a) Expanded energy use on Earth
(b) Expanded energy use on Moon
(c) Expanded energy use on Mars
(d) Expanded deep space energy use
(e) Asteroidal capture/deflection
(i) Earth orbiting space factory
(6) High speed manned interplanetary staage
(7) Staged laser light sail (capture by target star)
(a) deploy heavy laser power sat around target stars
(b) deploy cycler stages around target stars
(8) Round trip between stars at 0.3 c
(9) Interstellar industrial development
(10) Experimental collision of shaped objects at 0.3 c
(a) engineered micro black holes
(11) High speed interstellar communications and travel (speculative)

Each step is an easy one given that you have completed the earlier
steps. Each step is highly profitable given the previous step, which
allows the accumulation of capital, and the investment in programs and
projects to expand energy and material consumption. That is, using
10% of the revenue of each system to expand the population of users
and their ability to buy more expensive services - would have dramatic
impact. For example, providing wireless telephone services to
everyone at say $10 per person per year, and basic wireless broadband
for another $15 per person per year - for private use - would likely
generate $165 billion per year. Another $100 per person per year
could be earned in financial and other services - this is $660 billion
per year. A total of $725 billion per year against a global economy
of $66 trillion per year. Another $3 trillion in synfuel sales and
another $2 trillion in electricity sales. We're talking about
capturing nearly 10% of the Earth's economy!

Delivering primary and secondary and college education for as little
at $20 per person per year - could be provided free by such a system
to everyone. Delivering an 'open' universal medical service with
diagnostics over the internet using expert systems and making use of
broadly available low-cost generic medicines - and telerobotic
treatment centers broadly dispersed - could provide a reasonable level
of medical care (relative to what's available to most today) for about
$130 per person per year. This is 1/60th the global economy.

So, by spending 15% of the revenue stream outlined here would provide
privately funded universal health care and universal education
worldwide, to augment more traditional health care and educational
systems. This combined with a stable financial services sector
delivered reliably via the internet, would provide a sound basis for
rapid universal economic growth across the planet.

I also have ideas related to EPS stabilized PET films as components in
low cost housing and furnishings. As well as low cost greenhouses and
animal shelters that are used in conjunction with low cost farming and
water systems to advance subsistence farming - and increase the
underlying demand for energy, resources and information services for
profit.

The asteroid capture for example is driven by increasing demands in
the handful of strategic metals needed by industry as it grows. Once
the asteroids are in Earth orbit, and delivering nickel copper and
other strategic metals from space, the basis for using telerobotic
labor to expand industrial capacity on orbit to include manufactured
goods and low value products made from ceramics and eventually food
and fiber - is merely a continuation of the initial system. These
products and services can of course be used ON ORBIT to provide goods
and service to humanity across the solar system. These techniques -
developed to end poverty and want on Earth - can be exported to other
planets in the solar system, and to other star systems beyond sol.

.

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