Related papers: Wind--Pellet Shear Sailing
Propellantless propulsion refers to methods of space travel that do not require onboard propellant, instead relying on natural forces or external energy sources. In this paper, I review different approaches that have been explored and…
Understanding the launching mechanism of winds and jets remains one of the fundamental challenges in astrophysics. The Protostellar Outflows at the EarliesT Stages (POETS) survey has recently mapped the 3D velocity field of the protostellar…
In this paper it is presented the concept and design of a new type of spacecraft that could be used to make the first manned interstellar travel. Solar one would integrate three near-term technologies, namely: compact nuclear fusion…
With interstellar mission concepts now being under study by various space agencies and institutions, a feasible and worthy interstellar precursor mission concept will be key to the success of the long shot. Here we investigate…
The outer heliosphere is a dynamic region shaped largely by the interaction between the solar wind and the interstellar medium. While interplanetary magnetic field and plasma observations by the Voyager spacecraft have significantly…
A new electrostatic ramjet space engine is proposed and analyzed. The upper atmosphere (85 -1000 km) is extremely dense in ions (millions per cubic cm). The interplanetary medium contains positive protons from the solar wind. A charged ball…
A charged tether or wire experiences Coulomb drag when inserted into flowing plasma. In the solar wind the Coulomb drag can be utilised as efficient propellantless interplanetary propulsion as the electric solar wind sail (electric sail,…
The propagation speed of a circumstellar pattern revealed in the plane of the sky is often assumed to represent the expansion speed of the wind matter ejected from a post-main-sequence star at the center. We point out that the often-adopted…
Albatrosses can travel a thousand kilometers daily over the oceans. This feat is achieved through dynamic soaring, a non-flapping flight strategy where propulsive energy is extracted from horizontal wind shears. Dynamic soaring has been…
The design of mission scenarios for the flyby investigation of nearby star systems by probes launched using directed energy is addressed. Multiple probes are launched with a fixed launch infrastructure, and download of scientific data…
Strong interactions between jets and stellar winds at binary system spatial scales could occur in high-mass microquasars. We study here, mainly from a dynamical but also a radiative point of view, the collision between a dense stellar wind…
Lightsails are a highly promising spacecraft concept that has attracted interest in recent years due to its potential to travel at near-relativistic speeds. Such speeds, which current conventional crafts cannot reach, offer tantalizing…
Solar sails can play a critical role in enabling solar and heliophysics missions. Solar sail technology within NASA is currently at 80% of TRL-6, suitable for an in-flight technology demonstration. It is conceivable that an initial…
The acceleration of interstellar pick-up ions as well as solar wind species has been observed at a multitude of interplanetary (IP) shocks by different spacecraft. This paper expands upon previous work modeling the phase space distributions…
The solar wind electric sail (E-sail) is a planned in-space propulsion device that uses the natural solar wind momentum flux for spacecraft propulsion with the help of long, charged, centrifugally stretched tethers. The problem of…
Observations show that high-velocity jets stem from deeply embedded young stars, which may still be experiencing infall from their parent cloud cores. Yet theory predicts that, early in this buildup, any outgoing wind is trapped by incoming…
A novel non-reactive thrust principle based on controlling the angular momentum of a material body is proposed. Theoretically, it is shown that asymmetric emission/absorption of low-energy particle fluxes with spin in a direction…
Wind-driven sand transport generates atmospheric dust, forms dunes, and sculpts landscapes. However, it remains unclear how the sand flux scales with wind speed, largely because models do not agree on how particle speed changes with wind…
In this contribution I summarize our current knowledge of the nature and significance of starburst-driven galactic winds (``superwinds''). Superwinds are complex multiphase outflows of cool, warm, and hot gas, dust, and magnetized…
The acceleration of interstellar pick-up ions as well as solar wind species has been observed at a multitude of interplanetary (IP) shocks by different spacecraft. The efficiency of injection of the pick-up ion component differs from that…