Corey S PowellMar 15

The wild "Starshot" project was conceived to design a probe that could reach Proxima Centauri in about 20 years.

Although project has gone dormant, it has yielded a lot of new ideas (many not widely shared, alas) about how to build a viable interstellar probe.

https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/03/10/starshot-is-a-success-part-ii/ #space #science #technology

Show threadCorey S PowellMar 15

This summary of the Starshot project by one of its team leaders is a bit defensive. But it's a fascinating peek into the minds of the engineers who deeply, passionately wanted to be able to send a spacecraft to another star within their lifetime.

https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/03/03/starshot-is-a-success-part-i/ #science #astronomy #space #tech

Show threadJoseph Shoer
@coreyspowell The technologies alluded to in that graphic are so speculative! "Thin-film radioisotope generators?" Wouldn't that be neat...
Mar 15 at 2:44pmMastodon for Android
Show threaddatenwolfMar 15

@coreyspowell @jpshoer

Probably the idea there is some kind of betavoltaics, which is a thing. You can get betavoltaics powered RTC modules for ultra high long term reliability applications.

Show threadJoseph ShoerMar 15
@datenwolf @coreyspowell Must be something like that. From the physics, making it a thin film seems like it would be much less efficient...how much that matters depends on the power budget. There are other techs that still seem aspirational to me, like communications.
Show threadMichael Busch6d ago

@datenwolf @coreyspowell @jpshoer

Betavoltaics are limited in minimum effective size by the absorption cross-section of the electrons.

Just like RTGs are limited in minimum effective size by the absorption cross-section of the alphas.

Extremely thin films do not work either way: Either the electrons are not absorbed and the energy is lost; or the alphas are not absorbed, the energy is lost, and things never get hot enough for a thermal generator to work.