Going To Space Inside Magnetic Bubbles

Ecyrd writes: "Those fine guys at NASA have figured out a way to hitch rides to space inside magnetic bubbles, creating both an efficient propulsion system and protection from high-energy particles. Sorta taking the Earth's magnetosphere with you as a protective cloak when you go." The propulsion in this case comes not from within, but by using the magnetic bubble as a giant solar sail.

Comments

200kg?

[Gorimek]

Before you get carried away by "That's enough to accelerate a 200 kg spacecraft from a dead stop to 80 km/s (180,000 mph) in only 3 months.", remember that just 2 astronauts and their suits are heavier than that. That's without any actual spaceship.

Also later on it says

Maintaining such a bubble in space would require about 1 kW of power and less than 1 kg per day of helium propellant for the plasma source. In return, the bubble would intercept about 600 kW of solar wind power.

So... if it weighs 200 kg, and uses 1 kg per day for propellant... Isn't there a fundamental problem here...?

Looks pretty damn cool!

[Once&FutureRocketman]

The report is obviously dumbed down for the layman, so it's hard to really pass judgment on this thing. (I would really like the read the whitepaper, if anyone has a link to it.) But if the description is accurate, this could be an incredibly cool way to get around, once you're in orbit.

Of course, we still don't have a cheap way to get to orbit. Thanks, NASA.

At any rate, to answer a few questions I've seen posted here:
1) Yes, the basic concept of a solar sail is sound. It has been tested, and it works.
2) Yes, the acceleration is low, but it is continuous. That fact, plus the fact that you don't have to carry (much) fuel, put's you WAY ahead of any chemical rocket solution.
3) The magnetosphere wouldn't hurt the crew or the onboard electronics: you just put the lifesystem inside a Faraday cage.
4)And YES, you could come back from a mission to, say, Mars, using this technology. Travel between planets is accomplished by establishing yourself in an eccentric orbit that passes through the orbital path of both your origin and your destination. So you can use the magneto-sail to push out away from the planet, establish your orbit, then turn it off when you reach the "top" of your curve, and fall back in. Then turn the sail on again when you need to brake.
Depending on the location of various planets, you could also use the sail to travel out, develop alot of speed, and then slingshot around another planet to turn yourself around and head back home.

Re:Looks pretty damn cool!

[Wellspring]

(I would really like the read the whitepaper, if anyone has a link to it.)

Ask and you shall receive:

Phase One of his study: Read the Abstract, enjoy the Full Report.

Phase Two of his study: Read the Abstract, enjoy the Full Report.

You're welcome.

Interesting idea. Note that the 15km bubble he talks about is only with a kilowatt of power and a 200kg spacecraft. A multiton behemoth would have a huge magnetic bubble. I think the economies of scale sound pretty good on this.

Of course, the big problem of space travel, as everone else is also saying, is the earth to orbit phase.

ps: 500 hits to this report before we slashdotted it!!!

Wow!

[jonfromspace]

"A 15 km-wide miniature magnetosphere one astronomical unit from the Sun would feel 1 to 3 Newtons of force from the solar wind," says Gallagher, "That's enough to accelerate a 200 kg spacecraft from a dead stop to 80 km/s (180,000 mph) in only 3 months.

I have been reading alot about alternative propulsion as of late, and this seems by far the most realistic approach. While we are not going to see this in action for some time, it opens a ton of possibilities for countries like China that are just venturing into manned space flight.

With the amount of money the US Government has tied up in the Shuttle program, it is unlikely that they will even attempt implimenting this kind of technology on anything other than a "Test Platform" for at least 10 or so years. However, a country like China that is relatively new to the "Space Race" could easily use this kind of technology to attempt large scale interplanetary expiditions, with a far shorter time-line than competing countries.
Wouldn't it be something if the Chinese were the first to put a man on Mars? Don't laugh, it could happen.