Dangers of a particle strike in space?

[tdamskov]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p><br />Kinetic energy = 1/2 Mass times velocity squared.<br />So that same paint chip, at 0.1 C would have 18,342,392<br />times as much energy. <br /><p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />That is true. Luckily, interstellar space doesn't contain many paint chips ;-) .. I'd like to see the calculations on the energy release of the dust grains we're likely to encounter . They mass considerably less than the space junk usually found in Earth orbit.<br /><br />I found some excellent excerpts from a couple of official papers. Can anyone locate these two papers on the topic?<br /><br />D. Andrews, “Things To Do While Coasting Through Interstellar Space,†AIAA-2004-3706, 40th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, July 11-14, 2004.<br /><br />A.R. Martin, “Bombardment by Interstellar Material and Its Effects on the Vehicle,†Project Daedalus Final Report (Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, 1978): S116–S121.

 

[michaelmozina]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>In this case, we were discussing the motion of a magnetosphere against the local electric/magnetic field. That's different than motion relatve to the sun and galaxy. The EM motion there is less than 0.1 C I think.<br /><br />I'm sure MM will correct me if I'm wrong, as he should. <p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />I would only add here that when it comes to collisions, everything is relative. In other words, a bombardment by the sun of protons traveling at a 1/3rd of the speed of light is the same as running into some stationary protons if the ship were moving at 1/3rd the speed of light. <br /><br />I think your most important and effective point was the point about the missing atmosphere. Earth takes daily hits of small projectiles that burn up in the Earth's atmosphere before hitting the earth. I'm not sure how we would build a thick enough plasma shield that was powerful enough to ionize 100% of an incoming projectile, and deflect it, in the distance of just a few feet. That seems like it would take a huge amount of current flow, but then cruising the universe is bound to require a lot of energy. <br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> It seems to be a natural consequence of our points of view to assume that the whole of space is filled with electrons and flying electric ions of all kinds. - Kristian Birkeland </div>

 

[robnissen]

<font color="yellow">cruising the universe is bound to require a lot of energy. </font><br /><br />Not really. Slow and steady makes for amazing speeds. Continuous acceleration at 1g for 35 days achieves .1c. That is why solar sails in conjunction with lasers show potential for amazing speeds. Of course, until the particle problem from this thread is solved, it aint gonna matter.<br />

 

[michaelmozina]

We would definitely need to be able to vaporize anything smaller than a pea the moment it enters one of the most intensely charged double layers of the plasma shield. It would probably have to work a bit like a bug zapper, powered by a big time power source, huge capacitors and by releasing powerful electrical discharges. IMO it might be doable by using the outermost double layer to detect an incoming particle which in turn discharges the capacitors. It would probably add significant weight to the ship, but I think it could be done.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> It seems to be a natural consequence of our points of view to assume that the whole of space is filled with electrons and flying electric ions of all kinds. - Kristian Birkeland </div>

 

[ariesr]

I'm not confident that any form of radar or otherwise could be used to look beyond the spacecrafts current position if it was travelling at light speed or a significant fraction of.

 

[billslugg]

ariesr<br />The speed of light is invariant. The radar should work just as well as the craft approached light speed. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[mrjlh]

I too am a newbie to the forum. But are you forgetting something. Any object in space or in an atmosphere generate a shock wave traveling at any speed through any medium. The faster the greater. I could be wrong but I sorta recall that in aerodynamics 40 years ago. Sorry I'm dating myself.<br /><br />Just because you are in the vacuum of space doesn't mean you don't have gas particles or particles (electrons, etc.) as it was pointed out.<br /><br />And at the speed of light you would have a hell of a shock wave. Sufficient I would assume to take care of any particles. Plus the generation of static electricity around the craft should also be available for some power if drained off for someones plasma shield they mentioned.<br /><br />Just my thoughts from an old man.