Keep going Starship Builder Tel!

Kelvin

Vice President (Europe) Icarus Interstellar

“The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible”.

Project Bussard, is a research project to investigate the physics and engineering issues associated with the Bussard interstellar ramjet. But before we define the scope of the project, let us first revisit history.

Interstellar Ramjet as imagined by Icarus Graphical Engineer Adrian Mann

It was in 1960 that the physicist Robert W Bussard first proposed the interstellar ramjet in his seminal paper. Bussard was born in 1928 and died in 2007. Throughout his spectacular career he had worked on many interesting things, including the nuclear thermal rocket program in the 1950s, called Project Rover. He produced two exceptional monographs based on this research. He is also considered the inventor of the Polywell, a type of inertial electrostatic confinement fusion reactor, funded by the US Navy. The Project Icarus Study Group is also looking into Polywells for potential propulsion applications in deep space missions. But, Project Bussard aims to focus on his interstellar ramjet concept.

The interstellar ramjet method featured in the excellent Poul Anderson book, Tau Zero. The ramjet was a proposed variant of the fusion engine, but rather than carrying along its own fuel, it would use enormous electromagnetic fields to ram scoop hydrogen from the interstellar medium. The high energy protons enter the ram scoop, confined by magnetic field lines and then meeting under the conditions for fusion reactions to occur, producing a high energy exhaust jet. In theory, if the interstellar ramjet can be made to work, then relativistic star travel will be possible. This means trips to the nearest stars in only a matter of years travel time as the spacecraft continues to approach the speed of light barrier, but never quite reaches it. Indeed, trips to the centre of the galaxy, approximately 30,000 light years away, may be possible within a few decades trip time, although a very long time would have past back on Earth due to the special relativity time dilation effect, as first predicted by Albert Einstein in his 1905 paper. In the television series COSMOS starring Carl Sagan, the interstellar ramjet is even discussed (along with Project Orion and Project Daedalus) in episode 8. I am lucky enough to own the original drawing made for this show and it is shown below.

Interstellar Ramjet as imagined by Rick Sterbach for the Cosmos tv show

However, over the years, several physics and engineering problems have been found with the interstellar ramjet making it less credible as a real option for interstellar flight. Here are some of the issues in no particular order:
1. In order to ram scoop sufficient hydrogen fuel for the fusion reactions to take place, the spacecraft must already be travelling very fast, which implies carrying some on-board propellant to start with.
2. Maintaining a constant thrust profile for long period durations, whilst the engine is over heating.
3. Maintaining a very large electromagnetic field configuration over such large distances.
4. Finding areas of the interstellar medium where the density of interstellar hydrogen (or other particles) is sufficiently abundant.
5. In some versions of the ramjet concepts envisaged, the drag force generated as the large scoop passes through the interstellar medium, may exceed the thrust generated by the engine.

Over the years, variations on the interstellar ramjet design have been proposed. This includes the Ram Augmented Interstellar Ramjet, first proposed in 1974 by Daedalus designer Alan Bond, who proposed using the interstellar hydrogen only as a reaction mass. The interstellar hydrogen is not converted to helium in a fusion reaction, but instead it is accelerated by on-board fusion reactions from fuel which the Starship already carries. A modification to this scheme might employ protons hitting a low atomic number target and then converting these to the required burn reactions for jet exhaust. Daniel Whitmire made a proposal in 1975 for a catalytic ramjet, which instead uses the carbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycle producing fusion at a higher rate than in the proton-proton chain associated with the direct collection of hydrogen. Aerospace engineers Dana Andrews and Robert Zubrin have also studied the interstellar ramjet in 1985. One of the first tasks of the Project Bussard Study Group will be to collect all of the references together and work through the previous results. Some of these include:

• R.W.Bussard, “Galactic Matter and Interstellar Spaceflight”, Astronautica Acta, 6, pp.170-194,1960.
• A.R.Martin, “Magnetic Intake Limitations on Interstellar Ramjets”, Astronautica Acta, 18, pp.1-10, 1973.
• A.Bond, “An Analysis of the Potential Performance of the Ram Augmented Interstellar Rocket”, JBIS, 27, pp.674-685, 1974.
• D.Whitmore, “Relativistic Spaceflight and the Catalytic Nuclear Ramjet”, Acta Astronautica, 2, pp.497-509, 1975.
• T.A.Heppenheimer, “On the Infeasibility of Interstellar Ramjets”, JBIS, 31, pp.222-224, 1978.
• D.G.Andrews and R.M.Zubrin, “Magnetic Sails and Interstellar Travel”, JBIS, 1990.
• B.N.Cassenti, “Design Concepts for the Interstellar Ramjet”, AIAA 91-2537, 27th AIAA/ASME Joint Propulsion Conference, Sacremento, CA, June 24-26, 1991.

If you would like to inform us of other papers, please let us know on the comment section below. As the team begins Project Bussard, officially launched on 1st February 2012, it will move forward at a steady pace, over an approximately two year durtion. It is important to note that Project Bussard will not aim to ‘design’ a ramjet vehicle. This is considered too premature right now. Instead, the focus will be on researching the physics and engineering issues that prohibit the method from being apparently workable and providing potential solutions for a future team to research further. The project is to be split into five phases, as follows:

• Phase (I): Construction of project programme plan and assembly of team.
• Phase (II): Literature review, knowledge capture and identification of physics/engineering issues.
• Phase (III): Problem solving.
• Phase (IV): Strawman concept development.
• Phase (V): Write up of final study report.

As the co-founder (with Richard Obousy) of our flagship initiative, Project Icarus, this is the second technical project I have launched under the Icarus Interstellar umbrella, although back in 2009 Icarus Interstellar didn’t exist. I am very excited to see where the research for this most interesting of propulsion schemes leads. It is often said that the interstellar ramjet is the great hope for interstellar travel. Even the pioneering interstellar physicist Robert Forward, a proponent of propellantless propulsion, spent some time looking at interstellar ramjets. The Icarus Project Bussard Study Group hopes at the very least to produce a modern review of all the past literature and identification of the physics and engineering issues. But at the best, we might even stumble across an idea, and show that Robert Bussard was a true pioneer too. The physicist Greg Matloff will be joining the Project Bussard team and it is worth finishing this brief blog article with a quote from his outstanding book ‘The Starflight Handbook”:

“…Even if we never build a proton-proton fusion ramjet, the effort spent investigating it will not have been wasted….As fantastic as these ideas may seem, we should be open-minded about them, not cavalierly rule them out because of their current infeasibility. After all, the march of technology is full of well-known surprises and serendipity. To cite one example: the laser was invented virtually at the same time that the fusion ramjet was proposed. Lasers have since become the most promising way, in theory, to ionize the advancing path of a fusion ramjet and facilitate electromagnetic fuel collection”.

Kelvin Long
Vice President (Europe) Icarus Interstellar

This next version of the model was a wooden version that is advertised on ebay. It is claimed to be a “Daedalus NASA Starship spacecraft Wood Model”. Constructed from kiln-dried Wood Mahogany and hand-painted by artists. The origin of the model is unknown but to be fair to the company selling it, I will state that its claimed to be sold by MyAsianArt, an art and antiques gallery based in Manila, the Philippines:

The last of the models, 1 meter tall, was spotted at a Star Wars exhibit in Alaska by Icarus Designer Andreas Tziolas. Again, the origin of the model is unknown but a caption reads:

“In the 1970s, the British Interplanetary Society challenged its members to design an interstellar spaceship using existing and emerging technologies. The result was Daedalus, a two-stage rocket designed to send an unmanned probe on a fifty year trip to Barnard’s Star, a distance of six light years. Daedalus would use tiny fusion reactions to propel itself. A chemical rocket typically burns 800 pounds of fuel for every pound of payload it carries. A nuclear rocket, like Daedalus would use only 100 pounds of fuel per pound of payload.”

The Icarus team has decided to get our own model built for Daedalus which we can use at exhibitions and conference trade stands. We have recruited the excellent British model builder Terry Regan for this challenge. Terry has got started on this ambitious project and we will update you with photographs as he progresses. Meanwhile below shows an image from his early construction of the second stage model, with a payload bay around 120 mm in diameter and 50 mm tall. Well done Terry, this is sure to be a really exciting initiative as the model evolves into the full spacecraft design.

If you know of any other Daedalus models ever built, please let the Icarus team know.

Kelvin
Vice President (Europe) Icarus Interstellar

During my stay in New York I also visited my good friend and interstellar mentor Greg Matloff. He wrote the foreword for my recent book, “Deep Space Propulsion: A Roadmap to Interstellar Flight”, published by Springer (http://www.amazon.com/Deep-Space-Propulsion-Interstellar-Astronomers/dp/1461406064). Greg is also one of the world authorities on solar sail propulsion. We discussed interstellar flight and the future of research in this most unique of fields. An important point Greg has made to me before and re-iterated this at our recent meeting was that the interstellar community was very small, and it was very important that we didn’t fracture that community by advocating specific propulsion options against others in a hard line way, at least until a clear front runner emerges. I absolutely agree with this and have adopted this as part of my own philosophy, given I am usually a nuclear pulse advocate. Icarus Interstellar has now launched many new projects and whilst the team members are working on those specific propulsion schemes, it is important they keep the spirit of this message alive.

During my visit to New York I also met up with Icarus Board of Director Bill Cress and we visited the Hayden Planetarium together, a wonderful show. At one point I found myself hurtling into the edge of the galaxy in a mind spinning display of stars. I also found time to visit the American Museum of Natural History which had a ‘Beyond Planet Earth’ space exhibit. This featured a lunar space elevator for the purpose of getting materials to and from the Moon’s surface. Although the Moon is only one-sixth the gravity of Earth, it still requires a lot of fuel to get a payload into orbit. The space elevator could reduce the cost and effect significantly. As an aside I note that in the press today the US Republican Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is promising a lunar base by 2020. Perhaps a space elevator might be more possible after all.

The American Museum of Natural History also featured a Vostok capsule. The spherical capsule was designed by Soviet engineers to be as simple as possible. Used in the 1960s to carry Yuri Gagarin into space. The capsule had just four switches and 35 indicators on the control panel inside, meaning it was almost fully automated and the cosmonaut had very little do. I feel there is a lesson for the Icarii here from our Russian colleagues when doing spacecraft design – simple is often best.

As a final comment from my trip to New York, I walked around the site of the World Trade Centres and Battery Park; a moving experience. It’s a terrible thing that happened back then in 9/11 which has scarred humanity for the decades and centuries ahead. One has to wonder what ET would think of humanity looking down on us, not quite deciding whether we were the most beautiful creatures they had ever seen or the most horrible. Our ability to overcome our own self-generated problems has wide ramifications for whether or not we have what it takes to travel to the stars. This constant battle between our good and bad side is what the English philosopher Olaf Stapledon referred to as the dark and the light. I leave you with a quote from this most eccentric of science fiction writers:

“Is it credible that our world should have two futures? I have seen them. Two entirely distinct futures lie before mankind, one dark, one bright; one the defeat of all man’s hopes, the betrayal of all his ideals, the other their hard-won triumph”. Stapledon, O, “Darkness & the Light”, Methuen, 1942.

Kelvin F. Long
Vice President (Europe) Icarus Interstellar

I’ve found the DESCANSO book series from JPL to be invaluable. Hard copies are available, but if you’re happy reading PDFs you can download them right off the JPL site. These titles cover everything from bandwidth-efficient digital modulation to antenna arraying techniques, optical communications and software defined radio.

Thoroughly recommended!

There can be little doubt that science, especially in the fields of astronomy, planetary science and astrobiology, will be a major beneficiary of the development of rapid interstellar spaceflight as envisaged by the Icarus project. In its long history astronomy has made tremendous advances through studying the light that reaches us from the cosmos, but there is a limit to the amount of information that can be squeezed out of the analysis of starlight and other cosmic radiation. Already we can identify areas where additional knowledge will only be gained by making in situ observations of distant astronomical objects, and this will require specialised scientific instruments to be transported across interstellar space.

The scientific objectives for an Icarus-style interstellar probe can be divided into the following broad categories, which we propose to be in order of increasing priority:

(1) Science to be conducted en route during the cruise phase between the stars;

(2) Astrophysical studies of the target star itself, or stars if a multiple star system is selected;

(3) Planetary science studies of any planets in the target system, including moons, asteroids and comets of interest;

(4) Astrobiological/exobiological studies of any habitable (or inhabited) planets or moons which may be found in the target planetary system.

We now briefly consider each of these categories in turn:

Science conducted during the cruise phase

By definition, any interstellar vehicle will have to traverse the interstellar medium between the Solar System and the target star. Key measurements that could be made from an interstellar vehicle, and which would add enormously to our understanding of interstellar processes, would include in situ determinations of density, temperature, gas-phase composition, ionisation state, dust density and composition, interstellar radiation field and magnetic field strength, all as a function of distance between the Sun and the target star system. Determining some of these properties of the local interstellar medium will also be important for longer term planning of later interstellar missions – for example, quantifying the impact hazard posed by interstellar dust grains.

In addition to studies of the interstellar medium conducted en route, there are other astronomical and physical measurements which could make use of the Icarus vehicle as an observing platform during the cruise phase. These include using the long baseline opened up between Icarus and the Solar System to extend the trigonometrical distance scale to extragalactic objects, test theories of gravity (including the possible detection of gravitational waves), and perhaps search for evidence of dark matter in between the stars.

In spite of the scientific interest of these observations, however, scientific investigations conducted en route are a relatively low priority when it comes to the choice of target. This is not because such investigations are scientifically unimportant, but because they can largely be conducted regardless of what the particular choice of target star. It is true that in some directions the local interstellar medium is of more interest than others, but this is unlikely to be a scientific driver for a vehicle as complex and costly as an Icarus-type starship.

Study of the target star(s)

Astrophysical studies of the target star will have a higher priority. Although all potential targets for Icarus will be nearby stars (probably closer than 15 light-years), about which much can be learned from astronomical observations from the solar system, detailed studies of, for example, photospheric structure, magnetic properties, and stellar wind, would clearly benefit from the possibility of in situ observations.

From this perspective, higher priority might be given to rare or unusual stars. Examples might include an early-type star and/or a white dwarf, both of which could be achieved by selecting either Sirius (8.6 light-years) or Procyon (11.4 light-years) as a targets, as both have white dwarf companions. There will also be great astrophysical interest in making in situ observations of brown dwarfs (the closest known of which are in the Epsilon Indi system at a distance of 11.8 light-years), or a nearby red dwarf (which, although not rare, are perhaps the least understood class of main sequence stars owing to their intrinsic faintness). Last, but not least, we should not underestimate the scientific importance of making in situ observations of another main-sequence G-type star such as Alpha Centauri A (4.4 light-years) or Tau Ceti (11.9 light-years) to enable direct comparisons with the Sun.

Thus, from an astrophysical viewpoint, there is certainly plenty of science that could be achieved with an Icarus-style starship. However, interesting and important as these astrophysical considerations are, by themselves they are unlikely to be the main scientific drivers for an interstellar space mission. In part this is because foreseeable advances in astronomical techniques will enable us to continue to refine our understanding of the astrophysical properties of nearby stars without having to leave the Solar System.

Planetary Science and Astrobiology

There seems little doubt that the presence of a planetary system will greatly increase the scientific priority of a potential target star. This is because there are many aspects of planetary science which can only be addressed by in situ measurements, including the landing of scientific instruments on planetary surfaces. We can be sure of this because, over the last half century, in situ spacecraft observations have completely revolutionised the study of the planets and moons of the Solar System, providing information that could never have been obtained telescopically from the surface of the Earth or its immediate vicinity. If this is true of the planets in our own Solar System then it stands to reason that it will be true of other planetary systems also.

In addition to their intrinsic planetary science interest, the habitability of any such planets will be of compelling scientific interest. I think we can be reasonably confident that, long before we are ready to build an Icarus-type starship,  astronomical observations will be able to establish a hierarchy of priorities among any planets which may be detected around the nearest stars: (i) planets where plausible biosignatures are detected in an exoplanet’s atmosphere; (ii) planets that appear habitable (e.g. for which there is spectral evidence for water and carbon dioxide) but for which there is no explicit evidence of life being present; and (iii) planets which appear to have uninhabitable surfaces (either because of atmospheric compositions deemed non-conducive to life or because they lack a detectable atmosphere) but which might nevertheless support a subsurface biosphere.

Thus, when planning an interstellar mission with astrobiology/exobiology in mind, we are likely to have a priority list of target systems prepared well in advance. The highest priority of all would be given to extrasolar planets for which spectral evidence of an indigenous biosphere is detected by astronomical observations. In such a case, definitive proof of the existence of indigenous life, and follow-up studies of its underlying biochemistry, cellular structure, ecological diversity and evolutionary history, will absolutely require in situ measurements to be made. This will necessitate the transport of dedicated scientific instruments across interstellar space, and would be the strongest possible scientific justification for building an Icarus-style starship. It also implies a mission architecture which will permit deceleration of the vehicle at the target system, as the kinds of measurements required are unlikely to be possible while flying through the system at a substantial fraction of the speed of light!

Conclusion

An interstellar space vehicle such as Icarus will yield considerable scientific benefits. These include studies of the interstellar medium conducted en route, and astrophysical observations of the target stars(s). However, it seems clear that when it comes to selecting a final target star the presence of a planetary system, and especially the presence of habitable or inhabited planets, will trump all other scientific motivations. Although, as described in my earlier article (http://news.discovery.com/space/project-icarus-target-exoplanet-star-110207.html), our knowledge of planetary systems within 15 light-years of the Sun is still patchy, over the coming decades advances in astronomical techniques are likely to give us a much more complete inventory of nearby planets. So, by the time we are ready to actually build a starship such as Icarus, we will have a very good idea where to send it!

About the author

Ian Crawford is a Reader in Planetary Science and Astrobiology at Birkbeck College, University of London, UK (http://www.bbk.ac.uk/es/staff/Ian_Crawford), and Lead Designer for the Icarus ‘Scientific Objectives’ module. A more detailed discussion of the issues covered in this article can be found in his paper on the scientific case for interstellar space probes published in the Journal of the British interplanetary Society, vol. 62, pp. 415-421, (2009), and available at:

http://www.homepages.ucl.ac.uk/~ucfbiac/Crawford_JBIS_Daedalus_paper.pdf

This article, written by Ian Crawford, Module lead for the Science Module of Project Icarus first appeared on Discovery Space News in an article titled Project Icarus: Exploring Exoplanet Biosignatures.

JR Fleming Steampunk Interstellar - Richard Obousy

Many thanks to JR Fleming for her amazing Interstellar Steampunk work!

Check out more of JR’s work here:

JRFLEMING.COM

Now that’s an interstellar communications engineer!

Thanks to Richard Obousy for arranging this, and J.R. Fleming for the artwork.

Together with the Arduino, which some of the Icarus team are very familiar with, we are building a great portfolio of hardware for hackers to try out their ideas on.

Today we are surrounded by technology, mainly through the medium of a computer. Even engineers and physicists will use computational programs, numerical codes and visualization software to address problems in science. But do we lose some essence of ourselves in this process? An ability to be creative straight from the mind to the board. Leonardo said “A true understanding of all the forms found in the works of nature…is the only way to understand the maker of so many wonderful things and the way to love so great an inventor“. He also said “The divinity which is the science of painting transmutes the painters mind into a resemblance of the divine mind“. These are profound statements but one lesson we could take from the Master is that to understand nature you must be connected to it. Understanding an equation gives you that contact, so that you can as Richard Feynman once said understand a flower on many levels giving you a greater appreciation for its aesthetic beauty. But perhaps also in attempting to draw or paint engineering designs we begin to have an instinct for the rules of nature, as Leonardo did.

In an earlier post, I referred to the new art form that Richard Obousy and J R Flemming had created which they called ‘interstellar steam punk’. In the same vein, I wish to advocate another form of art, which I shall call ‘da Vincian design’. This can be defined as a fusion between engineering and physics (or biology) expressed in a creative way, leading to design concepts or explanations which elucidate principles of operations. It is essentially a sketch of something you wish to create, no corrections to mistakes are permitted (to encourage perfection in the drafting process) and it is usually accompanied by equations or descriptions. An example I have produced is shown below, for something that is similar to the Daedalus second stage engine design, surrounded by doodles, thoughts, problem solving and equations. To an outsider it has the appearance of a mad man, but to the person behind it, it is merely the manifestation of their creativity depicted by the pencil and paper, unafraid to sketch away to new innovative designs. Like Leonardo himself, perhaps one day, designs of brilliance will be born and the Leonardo tradition of studying how things work, or could work, can continue.

Leonardo designed tanks, parachutes, even studied the wings of birds. One has to wonder what he would have made of the concept of Star travel. Had he realized there were many solar systems in the galaxy, would he have speculated as to the appearance of other life forms (their anatomy) and what varieties of nature they may have enjoyed. Indeed, what would he have thought of designs for a starship? what principles of operations would he had based the engine upon? Steam? gun powder? Cannons? We will never know the answers to these questions of course. Although his art was produced five centuries ago, his tradition of creating engineering machines through the process of art, is as relevant today as it ever was. Leonardo was a polymath on many levels, seeing designs for machines that were centuries ahead of his time. In some ways, we in Icarus are trying to conceive of engineering mechanisms for a Starship design that may not be built for several centuries. In this regard, we are all students of Leonardo da Vinci. For those of you that like to doodle whilst working on engineering problems, sketch away, you never know what creation may spring from that simple sketch born from your minds eye.

Kelvin F.Long

Vice President (Europe) Icarus Interstellar

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Steampunk

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s.[1] Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or “Wild West”-era United States—that incorporates elements of either science fiction or fantasy. Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology, or futuristic innovations as Victorians might have envisioned them, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, art, etc. This technology includes such fictional machines as those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or the contemporary authors Philip Pullman, Scott Westerfeld and China Mieville.
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Thanks Richard, sweet revenge is on its way. The other Board of Directors may or may not share their images, but they are awesome.

Kelvin Long

Vice President (Europe) Icarus Interstellar

[artwork by JR Flemming]

When I reflect on the Icarus team, I see this spirit in abundance. All of the members of the Icarus team are giving up their personal time dedicated to the vision of interstellar flight. They each do this for a variety of reasons, but for most it is a combination of shared interest and the knowledge that humankind must think long term. This may be because of the risk of asteroid strikes, global conflict, natural disasters, over population and lack of resources or merely the knowledge that someday our Sun will have exhausted its energy.

For members of the public watching on, it may appear the Icarus team are just a bunch of people having a lot of fun in the pursuit of an unusual hobby. Whilst partly true, its also true that we all share a common bond, to work towards a peaceful and productive future for humankind on Earth and in Space. The dedication of the team working towards the 100 Year Starship Study grant in 2011 certainly required a lot of time and energy for many of us. We did that because we recognized its importance, not just to us individually but for our entire species. It was a moment of opportunity that had to be grabbed whilst it was there, provided by DARPA. An opportunity like this may not come again for many years and now was the time to raise our game and seize the day. – Carpe diem. The team responded magnificently to the challenge that was set before them.

Many Icarii spend many of their hours working volunteer into the late hours, working towards a point in the future when we can clearly see before us a blue print for a real Starship and imagination can finally translate to reality. At Christmas time in particular, I can’t think of a better gift for the members of Icarus to give to humanity than their personal time and energy to make the dream of starflight happen, someday. This is human kindness at the deepest level.

Happy Christmas World, let’s keep giving to make our dreams come true.

Kelvin F .Long
Vice President (Europe) Icarus Interstellar

Not quite the sentiment typically associated with the pondering of interstellar travel or the early colonization of a neighboring planet. Yet despite the seemingly incongruent nature of such a thought, further examination may prove it to be quite relevant. More specifically, it is important to understand the underlying pretext which causes the design of an occupiable space to influence the mind, thus evoking a particular emotion.

The positive psychological impact that a thoughtfully designed space can impart on an individual or a society can be tremendously far reaching. In turn, it could be expected that when interacting with a well designed space, individuals are more likely to experience higher productivity and are inclined toward a generally healthier mentality. Of course, the benefits of such design practices are widely known and utilized by designers, architects, and engineers around the world. But when the opportunity arises to employ such careful spatial consideration over a new macro network of interactive environs and interrelated facilities, the urban planner is ideally situated to act as orchestrator.

We now find ourselves at an exciting and rapidly evolving time in the history of deep space exploration. Modern technology is advancing in a dendritic manner almost as fast as it can be conceived and subsequently demanded. As such, the time for thoughtful discussions and informed preliminary planning of future interstellar exploration is rapidly evolving, and is being embraced by designers, researchers, engineers, and theorists around the globe. At a macro planning level, the inclusion of the urban planning discipline seems logical as such complex projects continue to coalesce.

Typically, when people think of what an urban planner or someone associated with the various facets of spatial design practices, images of earthly buildings, landscapes and green spaces, or richly detailed interiors come to mind. In contrast, thoughtful exploration of interstellar spacecraft design or fledgling planetary colonization may conjure images of immense technicality, cold metallic materials, and confined enclosures. However, the reality could ideally reside somewhere in the middle. By utilizing some of the successful design strategies implemented by urban planners, it is possible to meld innovation and technical prowess with comfort and familiarity in an effort to develop expansive habitats that promote well-being and explorative productivity, despite their inherent spatial constrictions.

As a great deal of modern day focus is commonly directed toward the technological marvels of space travel, emerging propellant systems, inspiring missions and the like, we should be mindful that equal attention is allocated to the preservation of the human element. Without proper planning and thoughtful consideration to the physical and psychological needs of the people tasked with living and operating in such colonies, even the most advanced technological achievements may risk failing at the human level. Design for the psyche and pragmatic daily functionality should be of equal concern as those of cosmic radiation shielding, fuel supply, food procreation, etc., for should the human component be allowed to atrophy, a given mission risks failure. Steps must be taken throughout the design phases to ensure a harmonious interconnection between infrastructure and its end users.

Taking clues from centuries of earth-bound urban design and community interaction, it should be possible to vastly enhance the return value on early colonization efforts by properly designing the spaces within which colonists will live and explore. As a comprehensive list of such needs is likely to be ever evolving, at a preliminary level it should be safe to assume two distinct approaches; design as it relates to mental well-being, and design as it relates to efficient colony-wide functionality.

The two are really concurrently related, but can be addressed separately. It is not the trees in the aforementioned example that specifically evoke a peaceful mindset, but rather how they function. Psychologically we associate the existence of the trees, particularly along an otherwise barren street, as representative of a nice space in which we would like to spend time. However, there are many other intangible elements designed into that space that are the real contributors. To be sure, any attempt at interstellar spacecraft occupation or colonization of an inhospitable planet will not involve the use of trees. However elements such as how comfortable humans feel under a certain overhead canopy height, the way repetitive elements are used visually in design, and even the proper width of a particular circulatory corridor for a given number of persons are all equally at play. When design scenarios become realities—at least with regard to modern day spacecraft and space stations—it seems as if these elements are often discarded, most likely as a function of the perceived cost to benefit ratio. While I have never of course visited the ISS, interior photographs portray a space that was designed around the technology and budget, primarily intended to operate as a working laboratory with human considerations having been born out of functional necessity. In short, while a 6 month long visit may be permissible, living in perpetuity within such an environment would surely take its toll. The most precious technological component involved in any deep space exploration will always be the human brain, and considerations must be taken to ensure its optimal performance.

At a macro-functional level, there are many interrelated necessities to be considered when preliminarily arranging the spatial relationships that will exist within a given spacecraft or planetary colony. To begin, a well vetted list containing all of the foreseeably required spaces and facilities should be created and utilized as a guidance tool throughout the design process. Input across all design and engineering disciplines would help to ensure the tightest control possible over the efficient locating of each element in the final design of a ship or research station. In addition, thoughtful consideration regarding not only the immediate needs of potential colonists, but also any future requirements arising during expansion should be accounted for as best as possible. When speaking with regard to confined spaceship travel, it becomes especially crucial that cohesion between psychology and functionality be established, as the occupants would be denied the freedom inherent to planetary colonization of routinely exiting the structure and openly roaming. Disagreements may arise between those seeking larger accommodations and those focused on propulsive energy needs and cumulative financial cost, but it is essential that any such spacecraft or research colony be designed with sustainability in mind.

Numerous master plan concepts and schematic layouts should be developed and allowed to evolve as the knowledge base increases, ultimately expanding to include real-life testing and emulative prototypes here on earth. Studies should be devised to embrace and expand upon that which is already known; for instance, what can be learned from examining the similarities between proposed durational space travel, and life aboard a modern day submarine deployed for 6 months at a time? How does one allow for the occupants to modify space as desired aboard a contained vessel? What spatial elements impart the greatest psychological and function benefits upon humans? The challenge will be to ultimately develop prototypical elements that not only embrace the modularity required to realistically accommodate expansion, but to do so in a manner that responds synergistically with surrounding terrain and microclimate (in the case of planetary colonization). The later may well become relevant when garnering support from the general public, who may react adversely to such interplanetary colonization if executed without consideration of the planets natural systems, in a sense learning from mistakes made during the colonization of earth.

Further studies will provide a more complete picture of the totality involved in preliminarily master planning such a community. By spending the time necessary to compile a thoughtful and exhaustive schedule of uses, goals, caveats, and spatial considerations, it will become possible to undertake the intricate task of compiling experienced knowledge and specificities from various design disciplines into a cohesive, sustainable, inhabitable environment.

When I attended the Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop on November 28 & 29, I visited the AMSE museum that was adjacent to the hotel where the workshop was presented.
There was a very nice display on the ITER project being built in the South of France. Some pictures I took are shown.

The Project:
Scientists from all over the world have come together in ITER to work toward a lofty goal: harness the energy produced by the fusion of atoms to help meet mankind’s energy needs.

ITER is a large-scale scientific experiment intended to prove the viability of fusion as an energy source, and to collect the data necessary for the design and subsequent operation of the first electricity-producing fusion power plant.

The ITER Agreement includes China, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States. The Members of the ITER Organization will bear the cost of the project through its 10-year construction phase and its 20-year operational phase before decommissioning.

The Museum also displays a wealth of information on The Manhattan Project and Oak Ridge, “The Secert City” of World War II.They also have The largest exhibition of energy related exhibits in the United States.

Certainly worth an afternoons visit should you be in the Oak Ridge area.

Bill Cress

Project Forward: a microwave driven beam propulsion project led by experienced designer Jim Benford. The project will analyze and assess past beamed energy concepts as well as describe the construction and assembly of sail designs. It aims to provide a detailed Starsail system concept.

Project Hyperion: a crewed interstellar mission led by designer Andreas Hein. This project is to provide an assessment of the feasibility of manned interstellar missions using current and near-future technology. It will also guide future research and technology development plans, help to reassess the Fermi-Paradox and inform the public about the prospects of crewed interstellar flight.

Project Bifrost: a Nuclear Thermal Rocket program led by Tabitha Smith. The project will first begin a period of computational modelling and design, and then look towards the creation of fission (thermal and/or electric) engines. One of the important parts of this work will be building partnerships with the US government for pulsed fission propulsion programs.

Whilst Project Icarus, our mainly fusion based design study, will always remain the flagship project until completion, it is important that Icarus Interstellar indeed starts to widen its umbrella as it strives to become the preeminent Starship research organization on Earth, now or has ever existed. This is a very exciting time for Icarus Interstellar as we launch these new projects and several more in the coming weeks. The mission of Icarus Interstellar is to achieve interstellar flight by the year 2100. This is an ambitious and bold aspiration. But with the progress we have made, and the momentum we appear to have, I am confident this can be achieved. If you like what we are doing, we invite you the public to support us where possible as we literally reach for the stars.

As one of the co-founders behind our original project, it humbles me greatly to see the progress we have made and its not just with Icarus. The Tau Zero Foundation is also attempting to grow itself and we wish them all the best of luck, as they too strive to effect positive change today, so that we can have a better tomorrow. Then there is the 100 Year Starship Study which I had the honour of attending. It is worth giving my own perspective on that wonderful conference.

The conference was a tremendous success, no doubt about that. Although I personally attended very few of the actual talks, mainly because I was so busy meeting people. But that’s what its really about and it is this, I argue, that is the most important function DARPA served by organizing this meeting. Icarus met up with people and organizations we may never otherwise have met. It gave us an opportunity, as is often the case when we attend conferences. But this one was very special. It was, in my view, the most important and historic Starship conference in history and DARPA as well as their executing agent NASA Ames deserve good credit for their achievement on this issue alone.

Then there is the actual competition. We hope to be the winners of course, with our teaming partners the Dorothy Jemison Foundation (DJF) and the Foundation for Enterprise Development (FED). All three of our organizations had only met weeks before the 100YSS submission date, yet somehow we managed to work together co-operatively and deliver a report for the seed grant on 11th November. This says a lot about our three groups and how serious we are about winning. Mae Jemison in particular, a former astronaut, is an inspiring figure who is not only an accomplished scientist in her own right, but also ‘gets it’, in terms of the human impact of space exploration. Together FED, Icarus Interstellar and the DJG hope to win 100YSS and become the umbrella organization for interstellar flight on Earth.

So what would we do if we won? Well, people will have to wait and see – or will they? You see, we are in this race for the long haul. Icarus as on the scene for sometime before 100YSS was launched and whatever happens we plan to continue anyway and build that Starship driven society we so badly need. Because we believe this is important, for the future generations ahead. Having said this, it would obviously be of tremendous help to us if we did win and we certainly want to win. We could do a lot more and sooner if we had access to that seed grant and the keys to 100 Year Starship.

We feel we have worked hard, have constructed a good plan, have demonstrated good teaming and that we understood the problem DARPA had set and what they were looking for. We also felt we demonstrated that we understood the various technological,  sociological, philosophical, political and economic issues relating to interstellar flight. We believe we are deserving winners. The decision is not ours of course and whoever wins we will work co-operatively with them and together build a better future for us all. Similarly, if we win we intend to embrace the entire interstellar community in the spirit of inclusiveness, openness, transparency and participation for all.

This is me signing off, goodnight world, and God bless the good Earth and stars above.

Kelvin F. Long
Vice President (Europe) Icarus Interstellar

On September 30th, 2011, the 100 Year Starship conference was launched in Orlando Florida. For three days, scientists from universities, NASA centers and private institutions discussed ideas relating to interstellar exploration. Over 15 members of our nonprofit organization, Icarus Interstellar, attended the conference to deliver presentations relating to our areas of research interest. In this movie, our Student Designer, Tiffany is being interviewed by Hailey Bright, and explaining what she enjoys about being a part of Icarus Interstellar.

Dr. Ian Crawford, Design Lead for the Astronomical Target module for Project Icarus talks about the choice of target star system for an interstellar probe. Ian makes a strong case for full deceleration in the target system due to the much impoved scientific returns from an interstellar rendezvous mission.

The General Atomics Tokamak is currently the 3rd largest in the world with an even larger one, ITER under construction in France. Built in 1976 and replaced with an upgraded version in 1986, this is a magnanimous device! Constructed primarily of high grade Stainless Steel and Aluminum. There are huge copper coils that circumscribe the machine, placed every several feet around the chamber. Additionally smaller copper coils are placed around the chamber perpendicular to the main copper coils and there are also diagonal coils as well. all electrically charged and used to guide and direct the reaction when the Tokamak is ignited. It uses Deuterium and Tritium as fuels for the machine, however because of the dangers of Tritium, and the lack of ability to handle tritium, they are only using Deuterium. Tritium is not needed for most plasma experiments. The facility is completely funded by The Department of Energy.

Bill Cress at the General Atomics Facility in San Diego

It is housed in a building of approximately 100,000sf with a sliding concrete slab that is put in place over the Tokamak when it is ignited, this controls any errant neutrons that may escape through the roof and contaminate neighbors ( done to satisfy environmentalist!) This Tokamak is the 2nd largest user of electrical power in the state of California. It is powered by 175,000 megawatts of electricity.

The devise is fired only during 17 weeks of the year and fusion is only created for a 5 second interval at that time. Each shot costs several million dollars. The device is completely lined on it’s interior with approximately 2 1/2″ thick graphite tiles to keep the reaction from burning through the walls of the Tokamak. Reaching interior temperatures of 15 million degrees it’s easy to do. While I was there they were replacing some interior tiles and welding some interior seems that had deteriorated.

200 scientists are there and involved on a daily basis and more when it is fired. One picture shows the overall control room. I was surprised that they permitted me to take any pictures at all! Certain areas like the laser labs and microwave labs were off limits to pictures. Very serious stuff!. There are hundreds of thousands of connections and wires feeding the Tokamak, it’s amazing that anyone is able to know where anything goes! Richard did admit that sometimes they just run new lines rather than try to figure it all out!

Richard introduced me to all of the staff along the way and it is a very interesting group of people. One in particular Charles Moeller who is one of the worlds leading experts on Microwave apparatus and launchers that survive in a fusion environment. He is the go-to guy and I have design on trying to attract him to Project Icarus as I believe he would be a great consultant and contribute significantly!

This is a not to be missed tour if you happen to be in San Diego.

One of the General Atomics Coordination Centers

Carbon Dioxide Interferometer

Neutral Beam Injector

1. That an international design team can be assembled to work on a specific and visionary engineering problem.
2. Focus on a design solution that is a balance between being sufficient bold and being sufficiently credible.
3. Adoption of techniques which are academically rigorous and adherence to accepted engineering practices and physical laws.
4. That most of the engineering design work can be facilitated and organized via the World Wide Web and with heavy reliance on web based tools, including for communication.
5. That the bulk of the team is volunteer enthusiasts although appropriately qualified, using a team for which many members may never have met or ever meet.
6. Use of a team that is international from a diversity of cultural, ethnic, demographic or environmental backgrounds.
7. Adoption of a flat, dynamic and transparent management structure
8. Supported by non-profit organization(s) as a foundation base.
9. Team networked into external space mission designers involved with actual space missions, to facilitate mentoring.
10. Attendance and presentation at international conferences where possible to facilitate the occasional design workshop and engage with ones peers.

Can we encapsulate the essence of Project Icarus in a short paragraph, here is one attempt:
“Project Project Icarus can be defined as a cultural exercise in fun and pursuing personal happiness focused on a specific and visionary engineering problem for the purposes of an educational exercise whilst adding intellectual value to knowledge. It is inspired, through optimistic visions, by the potential of science and technology to allow international participation in the exploration of space and find relevance and meaning to the apparent complexity of our lives. It is led and organized by an enthusiastic group of self-motivated volunteers with a shared set of ideas, hopes and common goals, operating an innovative (Web based) management model whilst communicating the inspiration through media, marketing and education”.

In May 1996 Peter Diamandis set up the now famous Ansari X-prize competition based upon the model used for the 20th century flight across the Atlantic by Charles Lindbergh. The X-prize competition set out to open up Earth orbit to the greater population of the planet and Burt Rutan of Scaled Composites using the SpaceShipOne space plane eventually won it in October 2004. The X-prize has shown that this sort of model is an excellent incentive for spurring technological innovation and replaces the incentive of competitive overtures towards nation state warfare – the motivation behind the eventual moon landings. Could such a model be adopted, inspired by Project Icarus, for spurring innovation in the field of interstellar research? The answer is yes and this is how such an ‘Alpha Centauri Prize’ would work.

The Alpha Centauri Prize is a proposal for an international design competition to facilitate interstellar research towards a front-runner design. It contains several important elements:
1. Announcement of competition rules per cycle, which constitutes the engineering requirement to be completed. For Project Icarus this is called the Terms of Reference.
2. International team, using a similar model to Project Icarus.
3. Teams compete for a cash award every two to three years, to include second place and third place runner up cash prizes to motivate re-entry.
4. Submission of a team (full systems) engineering design report encompassing all the key spacecraft systems.
5. Addressing both unmanned and manned interstellar mission scenarios depending on the competition requirement of each cycle.
6. Demonstration of a novel technology or experiment that forms part of a sub-system that would be included in the design, to facilitate evolution of Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs).

The Alpha Centauri Prize would be an international competition that has the function of incentivizing research, contributing technical knowledge, developing designer capability whilst inspiring the public towards the vision of interstellar flight. It is proposed as an extension to Project Icarus. It is one of the best ways to advance the prospects for interstellar travel, and to have separate design studies, which could be derived, iterated and improved. Over time, the concept would be worked upon by future generations and ultimately lead to a direct design blue print for an interstellar probe after several decades of running. Like Project Icarus, it is the hope that other teams around the world would be assembled to work on specific proposals investigated historically such as NERVA, Starwisp, Vista, Longshot, AIMStar, Orion or one of the many others. This way, the technological maturity of different propulsion schemes can be improved over time and the case could be better made for precursor missions to the outer solar system and one day to the nearest stars. In such work all propulsion systems would be considered from nuclear fusion, solar sails, laser beaming, pellet stream, mass drivers, antimatter, antimatter catalyzed fusion to breakthrough propulsion physics concepts. Instead of historical redesigns, the competition would also facilitate complete new and innovative design concepts.

The competition would in essence be an academic one, so would be run by a non-profit organization and it could be held every two to three years. This would allow a sufficient time between design studies so as to allow some technological advances and scientific discoveries to be made and allow this new knowledge to be folded into the design work. The output of the studies would be an engineering design study report along the lines of the standard presented by the historical Project Daedalus and eventually for Project Icarus, but perhaps less ambitious in scope due to the shorter timescales for completion.

In order to maximize design capability and ensure that all the appropriate systems would be assessed the teams would have to be of a minimum size (e.g. 6-10 designers) with a clear Project Leader and with each person delegated a specific role in the design work. The teams would also consist of members from more than one country so as to increase international co-operation in designing such missions and bringing together a world community behind such a vision. The work would not be completed as part of any official government space agency work.

The team would complete the study in a submitted report to the judging panel within one year of the official competition opening and the theoretical destination/engineering requirement revealed. The technical requirements for the competition would be along the following lines:
• The team must produce an engineering design study that meets the requirements specified by the competition cycle (i.e. target distance, mission duration, payload mass…).
• The probe design would be based upon current or near-future technology (linearly extrapolated few decades hence only) and designed to be launched within a 50-100 years of the study report delivery.
• The study must cover all of the major spacecraft systems, including propulsion, environmental, structure, materials, navigation and guidance, fuel, science and payload.
• The report must also include a reliability analysis and technology readiness measurement as well as cost assessment. The key milestone timescale required for launching of such a mission should also be defined.
• The precursor mission roadmap would be defined, the sort of missions required to lead up to the main interstellar mission launch.
• The mission architecture for design, build, assembly and launch would be defined.
• The vehicle design may be a combination of propulsion schemes but a single propulsive mechanism should be responsible for approximately 80% of the thrust generation during the boost phase so as to maximize the optimality of that system.
• Additionally, the study would result in at least one novel form of test-rig level technology which is included in the final design solution. This could be a ground test, rocket flight or the placement of some hardware into Low Earth Orbit. It should demonstrate the operating principles of a key engineering component for the design.

The specification of an experimental component to the study is to facilitate gradual progression on the Technology Readiness Level scale. This will ensure that as well as theoretical advances new experimental advances are being made towards the ultimate vision of sending a probe towards another star. Some of this technology may someday be used in an actual interstellar mission.

It is more desirable to have ten teams producing ten radically different design concepts with some overlap, rather than having ten replica designs, which would be a waste of resources, and for this reason the propulsion option would be left as a variable on each cycle, also to ensure maximum innovation. The target destination would be changed each time to avoid duplicate design solutions from previous cycles as well as to challenge the design team with difficult missions. The name ‘Alpha Centauri Prize’ does not necessarily imply that the target will always be this star system, although on the first occasion it is run this may be appropriate, being our nearest star. Examples of the Bi-annual competition would include the task to design a probe to reach Alpha Centauri carrying a 1 ton science payload and limited to 50 years total mission duration. Another example would be to design a probe to reach Barnard’s Star carrying a 10 kg science payload and limited to 200 years total mission duration. Alternatively a mission to a Brown Dwarf.

The competition would be assessed by an appropriately qualified judging panel and the decision would be made on the following criteria:
• Demonstration of a credible and realistic design solution that meets the project engineering and mission requirements set for the challenge.
• Demonstration of a rigorous assessment of all the spacecraft systems.
• Derivation of a credible vehicle and mission performance profile.
• Demonstration of basic consideration for all spacecraft sub-system requirements.
• Completion of the study according to accepted laws of physics and standard engineering practices.
• Assumption of current technology or near—future technology based upon reasonable extrapolation techniques.
• Has provided a good description of the physics operating principles, engineering mechanisms and economic costs.
• Submission of a report to high academic standards.
• Has provided graphical visualization of the spacecraft design concept and mission profile.
• Demonstration of innovative and/or novel elements in the design.
• Demonstration of management of the project consistent with how major projects are organized.
• Has demonstrated an international element to the project.
• Demonstration of sufficient media coverage of the concept.
• Demonstration of an educational activity pertaining to the concept and its relation to interstellar travel.

The winner of the competition would be awarded a cash prize, somewhere in the region of $50,000 – $100,000 provided by a philanthropic donor or the non-profit body organizing the competition. The academic competition would focus interstellar research towards specific design studies and the ultimate objective of the competition is to increase the technology readiness of different interstellar propulsion schemes. After running the competition for two decades we may find that what may emerge is not a single choice for going to the stars in the coming centuries, but instead a realization that it is a combination of approaches with highly optimized engineering designs that will be the way to go. This may suggest hybrid propulsion schemes and could for example be along the lines of a fusion-based drive with anti-proton catalyzed reactions but using a nuclear electric engine for supplementary power and perhaps a solar sail and MagSail for solar system escape or upon arrival. From the two decades of research will develop reliable engineering studies, practical progress of the technology and several clear front runner designs to focus initially divergent research options towards the proper investment into the clear front runner designs by a process of gradual down select.

Human beings need a challenge to force us to progress technologically and push our ideas out from just being theoretical concepts. The Alpha Centauri Prize is a research incentiviser, technology enabler, inspiration driver and educational motivator. A competition of the sort proposed here would represent a major step forward for interstellar research laying the seeds for the first probe to be sent towards another star. Arguably one of the most famous competitions in history was the space race for the Moon. Although motivated by nation state rivalry, it did bring about tremendous advances in technology and a sense of optimism that humankind can accomplish the seemingly impossible.

Turning interstellar research into a competition will be one sure way to ensure we get to the stars sooner, rather than later, whilst producing many reliable reference studies along the way. When in competition, mankind is at his best – to accomplish the seemingly impossible dream of interstellar flight we must embrace our nature and shoot for the finish line, even if the marathon is a century long. We’re in this for the long haul, but we can shorten the journey by facilitating faster progress today by competitive, but peaceful tools. The Alpha Centauri Prize is one way to accomplish this.

When the 100 Year Starship Symposium was announced I wanted to go, but had no idea if I could afford the costs, but generosity of friends and family made it possible. I haven’t flown in 25 years, but my last Trans-pacific flight was to the USA so I had some idea of the journey ahead. I left Brisbane, Australia at 630 AM on Thursday and arrived in Orlando, Florida just after 7 PM on the same calendar day – timezones working to my advantage. My first contact with Team Icarus was Andreas Hein, who is an amazing Icarus Designer from Munich. Sharing a taxi, we arrived at the Orlando Hilton, strangers in a strange land.

Soon after unloading bags and a shower (over 24 hours of flying…) I met the other members of the Icarus Interstellar Board in the flesh. We had talked on Skype so I had some idea of voices and faces, but to finally meet everyone was a special moment. A long session at the Sports Bar followed, with an introduction to Jerry Winchester, one of our Consultants and Andreas Tziolas’s boss. I managed to hold on to 2 AM, but had to collapse and recover from jet-lag.

The Symposium proper began the next day in the early afternoon, giving us time to admire Bill Cress’ amazing handiwork in the Icarus Interstellar table outside the main auditoriums. Hailey Bright, our official spokesperson, charmed me into being the first interviewee for the promotional material that Bill is developing. That prepared me for facing the auditorium for my own talk the next day. The multi-track structure of the Symposium was kind of frustrating, with multiple talks I wanted to attend being on at the same time. What I did catch was fascinating, with some amazing work on future life-support options in the Biomedical Track, and equally fascinating work on future propulsion concepts.

The amazing part was outside the official talks, fulfilling multiple SF fandom dreams by meeting a number of my favourite authors, most notably Stephen Baxter, Gregory Benford and Gerald Nordley – as Greg puts it in his own blog the Symposium was the first Hard-SF convention. The buzz amongst attendees during the social events – such as the stand-up story-telling in “Callahan’s Cross-Time Saloon” – was refreshingly positive in this age of economic anxiety.

While speculative ideas with some kind of physics behind them did feature in some of the talks, the Symposium stuck with what seemed doable within the next century, as well as trying to display the multi-dimensional nature of what really launching a manned starship would require. Two talks held the key to the future, in my opinion.

James Benford, Ph.D, discussed the economics of developing beamed-energy propulsion to propel high-speed sail-probes out of the solar system. His discussion demonstrated that the infrastructure required to launch sail-probes can also be used to develop the solar system for the benefit of all humanity. An incremental pathway to the stars, performing useful , profitable tasks at each step, can be carried out using technology we have now. The architecture might not be as Dr.Benford sketched out, but there is a road to the stars, which Icarus Interstellar is a part of.

The other talk was given by Ariel Waldman, founder of Space Hack, an organization devoted to getting ordinary, but space-minded, people involved in space exploration in whatever way possible. That can range from attending workshops on how to make your own Cube-sat, to joining a planetary Rover team, to scanning distant galaxies and categorizing them (a job computers still struggle to do.) If Icarus Interstellar, and the 100 Year Starship Organization, can mobilize everyone who longs for the stars, then the task will be achieved, and everyone will have had a hand in it.

All-in-all I feel privileged to have attended such an amazing, even historical event. Before long there will be a 100 Year Starship Organization, and a role for everyone to play in its success. Come with us, to the stars.