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User:Snow Rise/sandbox/Halo drive

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The Halo Drive is a proposed theoretical method of laser propulsion for accelerating a spacecraft or other physical body to relativistic speeds of up to a significant fraction of the speed of light by firing a stream of photons along the gravity well of a blackhole, such that the resulting laser beam returns to near its point of origin (forming the eponymous halo from the beam).[1] If utilized in conjunction with a binary blackhole system, the gravitational assist affecting each photon would return each such particle in a blue-shifted state, and thus provide energy in excess to that which was used to propel it outward. Similarly, a single blackhole with enough rotational energy could be used to likewise blue-shift such photons. [1]

Background

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Exploratory spacecrafts projects often employ gravitational assists in order to increase the speed of the craft and the range of their missions. [2] Physicist Freeman Dyson had proposed utilizing Black Holes to propel crafts using a gravitational assist as early as 1954, but also calculated that the gravitational forces exerted upon such a craft, given the range it would have to close on the black hole in question, would likely be too immense for any practical craft to survive.[1]

Methods for using laser beams as a form of propulsion for spacecraft fitted with light sails were proposed as early as the 1960s[3], and in 2016, physicist Stephen Hawking and technology mogul Yuri Milner proposed the Breakthrough Starshot project--a method for launching swarms of small microchip-sized crafts attached to light sails to various star systems, with the light sails facilitating propulsion from Earth-based lasers.[1]

The Halo Drive as a proposed method of propulsion for interstellar craft utilizing lasers in conjunction with black holes was first proposed by Professor of Astronomy David Kipping, researcher with Columbia University's 'Cool Worlds Lab'.[1]

Physical Model

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A Halo Drive would operate by firing a stream of photons towards either a binary black hole system or a singular black hole with significant rotational momentum, at a position which would arc the trajectory of the particles such as to slingshot around the gravity well of the bodies and return to the craft. Either variety of system would be capable of raising the energy of the photon through blue-shifting, providing a surplus of energy over that used to eject the particles. With either method, the stream of photons could be used to generate constant acceleration of a craft or other body--even theoretically bodies up to the scale of astronomical objects--driving it to relativistic speeds approaching closer to that of the speed of light than most spacecraft, including most speculative spacecraft.

Advantages and constraints

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If viable, the halo drive would would provide several advantages over many traditional proposed methods of interstellar travel, most notably in that a vessel using the method would not have to store much onboard fuel; with most other proposed methods of longterm spaceflight, fuel accounts for the vast majority of a craft's mass ratio.

Furthermore, because the mass-energy of a black hole is so massive in relation to the likely achievable mass of any craft utilizing the halo drive methodology, such maneuvers could provide virtually inexhaustible resources for interstellar travel, and/or an almost functionally arbitrary mass for a spacecraft, allowing for robust impact shields to mitigate the the effects of collision with interstellar gas and dust--interstellar dust, gas, and debris are otherwise often regarded as major constraints on the speed of proposed interstellar craft, since even microscopic amounts of matter would impact a theoretical craft with substantial force if said craft was traveling at relativistic velocities.

A ship employing a halo drive method of propulsion would also be able to achieve much faster acceleration and sustain constant acceleration for significantly longer periods than most other proposed models for interstellar spacecraft. However, if the function of the craft using the halo drive was broader than making observations without decreasing speed, said craft would still need massive energy reserves in order to decelerate. Further, its velocity may be such that no practical amount of fuel would suffice to slow the craft to a stop, and it is probable that a halo drive vessel would need another black hole system at its destination in order to decelerate, by firing a stream of photons in a similar fashion to the method with which it first borrowed energy from the originating blackhole system.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "A "halo drive" could accelerate interstellar spacecraft to close to the speed of light". MIT Technology Review: Emerging Technology from the arXiv Team. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference IFL was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ G. Marx, "Interstellar Vehicle Propelled by Laser Beam," Nature, Vol. 211, July 1966, pp. 22-23.


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