Is there a better way to explore space without using rockets for propulsion?
Manasvi Lingam, assistant professor of astrobiology at the Florida Institute of Technology, examines one potential technology.
Manasvi Lingam, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of astrobiology at Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech) in Melbourne, Florida.
After completing his undergraduate degree at the Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay), Dr. Lingam moved to the University of Texas at Austin, where he obtained his Ph.D. in Physics. He then undertook postdoctoral stints at Princeton University, Harvard University and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Dr. Lingam is currently an assistant professor of astrobiology in the Department of Aerospace, Physics and Space Sciences at Florida Tech.
Dr. Lingam’s research interests are situated primarily within the transdisciplinary area of astrobiology. As a theorist, his research is mostly oriented towards: (a) exploring the multiple factors that regulate the habitability of planets and moons within and outside the solar system, and (b) identifying potential signatures of extraterrestrial life that might be detectable by forthcoming observations.
For instance, Dr. Lingam has worked on determining how the available fluxes of nutrients and energy may dictate the productivity of putative biospheres and detectability of biosignatures on a wide variety of worlds ranging from desert and ocean planets to icy moons with subsurface oceans such as Europa and Enceladus.
Another area of continuing interest is understanding how stellar processes such as winds, flares, coronal mass ejections and energetic particles govern planetary habitability in many ways, ranging from atmospheric escape to the synthesis of crucial molecules in prebiotic chemistry. He has also explored how high-energy phenomena shape the distribution of life in our galaxy by suppressing habitability (via active galactic nuclei, tidal disruption events, etc.) and how the number of life-bearing worlds is modulated by the transfer of life through rocky ejecta.
As Dr. Lingam’s Ph.D. and initial postdoctoral research was in plasma physics, he continues to work sporadically in this field. Some of the areas he has investigated include Hamiltonian and Lagrangian formulations for plasma models, developing fluid models that accurately encapsulate collisional effects, generation of small- and large-scale magnetic fields, magnetic turbulence (e.g., in the solar wind), and fast magnetic reconnection which is believed to drive explosive phenomena such as stellar/solar flares.
The Benefits of Using A Different Type of Propulsion to Explore Our Solar System
In 1957, the launch of Sputnik kicked off the Space Age. Though it’s been nearly 70 years since then, we still largely remain confined to chemical rockets for exploring space.
There may be a better way.
Some of my recent work considers a shift toward the emerging technology represented by the use of light sails powered by laser arrays—sometimes referred to as laser sails—which do not require the storage of onboard propellant for space travel.
There is much excitement about the potential of “ocean worlds” in our Solar System, specifically moons of Saturn and Jupiter, which have been confirmed to have subsurface oceans of liquid water, one of the key requirements for harboring life.
Missions to these ocean worlds have relied on rocket propulsion and flyby maneuvers to gather data. However, an inherent limitation is the associated cost of carrying fuel. The propellant-free propulsion of light sails could be used instead on future missions.
These propulsion systems rely on light to push a spacecraft, much like how wind pushes a sailboat. A future in which light sails were used in this way might very well revolutionize our exploration of the outer Solar System.
Both Enceladus and Europa have large plumes that originate deep from beneath their icy surfaces. If you were to collect from the plumes, you could look for molecules of life.
If you were to deploy spacecraft using a light-sail architecture you could get there faster and at a comparable cost, and, instead of sending one spacecraft, you could send a fleet of smaller ones, representing a paradigm shift in space exploration.
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