Space Rocks

The Object That Will Change Your View of Space Forever
The Space Race

I've always liked the idea of interstellar travel. I'm not quite sure why the idea appeals to me, but I am not the only one. Just look at the success of Star Trek and Star Wars, not to mention the rest of fictional space exploration industry.

It seems like it would be really cool, but nobody seems to have any idea how it might be accomplished. The rocket equation makes it pretty clear that it's going to take you a zillion years to get to another star using any kind of propulsion that we know how to do.

However the trick with the rocket equation is you can reach any velocity you want as long as you can propel your reaction mass to sufficient velocity. Problem here is the velocity you need is insanely high, like in billions of MPH. If you can get your exhaust gas velocity up in the vicinity of the speed of light, and you can devote like 99% of your mass to reaction mass, you could make it to another star in a few years.

Going that far away and being in space for that long, you are going to want to pack accordingly. Say we allocate a million tons for habitat, then we are going to need a hundred million tons of reaction mass. A ball of iron 50 feet in diameter would do.

Putting that much mass into orbit by lifting it from the surface of the earth, be better if we could build it in orbit around the moon. Use electromagnetic launchers to launch what we need into orbit.