When NASA shuttered the Space Shuttle program earlier this year, for many it seemed like a light had gone out of America’s quest for interstellar exploration.  Don’t tell that to the group of astrophysicists, scientists, engineers, students, sci-fi writers and members of the public gathered at the recent DARPA 100 Year Starship Symposium in Orlando.  For them, the idea of a journey into deep space is just beginning.

While it may seem like a motley collection of people attended this conference, DARPA  - the government’s Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, responsible for developing new technologies - opened it up to the public with the notion that big ideas can come from anyone.  A public forum was also about getting us all – not just scientists - excited and passionate about the goal of space travel again.  

The goal is a BIG one.  DARPA is seeking to find a viable way to undertake interstellar exploration, and the biggest challenge is to tackle just how we make a spaceship that can travel fast enough to take us that far.  One way to gain perspective on the issue is to think about where we are now.  It’s taken us 10,000 years to get us from walking (2.6mph) to the fastest recorded speed a human has travelled (Apollo’s return from the moon at 26,000mph).  That’s a jump of a factor of 10,000; reaching a speed that gets us to the nearest stars in a reasonable amount of time would require another jump of a factor of 10,000.

There are a lot of ideas that move us away from the fuel dependent rockets we have now which would be completely unsuitable for long distances.   Nuclear fission would be one – but should there be an accident the nuclear fallout could be devastating to those of us left on earth.  Solar sails have also been raised – the concept is that just like sails fill up with wind to move, solar sails are filled with light or perhaps even microwave beams targeted from earth.  In fact, solar sails have been used in a Japanese probe that reached Venus in six months.

Perhaps the granddaddy of all big ideas proposed was the idea of an engine-less ship.  Proposed by physicist Dr. Joseph Breeden, the idea is to use gravity from one object to generate the energy to push another.  He theorizes if you could find an asteroid in an orbit close to the sun, place a spaceship in the same orbit, and then move the asteroid into orbit closer to the sun, the chaos of this movement would propel the spaceship out into the universe.  Think of it like the critical move in roller derbies – the “whip it.”  The core skaters build up speed and then whip that last link in the chain along must farther and faster than they could go alone.

While the biggest hurdle is finding us a vehicle to get there, don’t be mistaken in thinking the conversation stopped there.  There were discussions on how humans could survive the long distances and time in space.  How would the ships carry enough supplies to last?  Should robots handle the task? What would happen once we reach the nearest star? 

What is exciting is that those at the symposium were thinking big and visionary, no matter what the challenge.  The project has the potential to dramatically change the future for generations to come, but the research and testing that will be an ongoing part of the project could very well affect our generation. Technologies emerging during the project could be applied to better our everyday lives much like those contributions we enjoy from NASA space missions (memory foam, scratch resistant glasses and more). 

Innovation comes from the most interesting places, and sometimes it takes maverick ideas to move the meter. It is clear those at the DARPA 100 Year Starship Symposium is embracing that notion by encouraging scientists and all of us to set the bar high. 

Sources:

• ^{http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/future_tense/2011/10/darpa_s_100_year_starship_symposium_alien_religion_solar_propuls.html}
• ^{http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/science/space/18starship.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=science}
• ^{http://www.darpa.mil/}
• ^{http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2011/2011/06/15_DARPA_Encourages_Individuals_and_Organizations_to_Look_to_the_Stars.aspx}