Topic
Interstellar ark
About: Interstellar ark is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2 publications have been published within this topic receiving 4 citations. The topic is also known as: space ark & spaceark.
Papers
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on accurate simulations of the water and air (oxygen) requirements for any type of population in order to be able to provide precise constraints on the overall architecture of an interstellar ark (the requirements in terms of food having already been studied in a previous publication).
Abstract: The architecture of a large interstellar spaceship, which is capable of serving as a living environment for a population over many generations, is mainly dictated by the needs of said population in terms of food, water and breathable gases. These resources cannot be stored for the entire duration of a journey that goes on for several centuries, so they must be produced in situ. In order to determine the quantities necessary for the survival of the population, it is imperative to precisely estimate their needs. In this article, we focus on accurate simulations of the water and air (oxygen) requirements for any type of population in order to be able to provide precise constraints on the overall architecture of an interstellar ark (the requirements in terms of food having already been studied in a previous publication). We upgrade our agent-based, numerical, Monte Carlo code HERITAGE to include human physiological needs. Our simulations show that, for a crew of about 1100 crew members (each characterized with individual anthropometric and biological data), 1.8 $\times$ 10$^8$ litres of oxygen are annually required, together with 1.1 $\times$ 10$^6$ litres of water. Those results do not account for oxygen and water used in growing plants, but they give us an insight of how much resources are needed in the spaceship. We also review the best methods for generating water from waste gases (namely carbon dioxide and dihydrogen) and how such system could complement the oxygen-supplying biospheres inside multi-generational spaceship to form a closed and controlled environment.
4 citations
1 Jan 2018
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of increasing graphene fractional reflectivity on the performance of a previously considered Sun-launched interstellar ark were investigated, and it was shown that even small increases in reflectivity significantly increases interstellar cruise velocity.
Abstract: Graphene, a carbon molecular monolayer, has an essentially zero reflectivity to visible light that can be increased to 0.05 if alkali atoms are intercalated with carbon atoms. Recently published theoretical work considers methods of selectively altering graphene optical properties. This paper considers the effects of increasing graphene fractional reflectivity on the performance of a previously considered Sun-launched interstellar ark. The ark considered has a payload mass of 5x10 kg and a maximum population of 20-50. The hollow-body sail, with a radius of 764 km, is unfurled (or inflated) at the 0.1-AU perihelion of an initially parabolic solar orbit. A multiple-layer structure of graphene and molybdenite is used to increase sail fractional absorption of visible light to 0.4. Fractional reflectivity is varied incrementally between 0.05 and 0.4. Final interstellar cruise velocity, peak acceleration and perihelion temperature are examined as functions of sail reflectivity to sunlight. It is shown that even small increases in reflectivity significantly increases interstellar cruise velocity.
2 citations
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 1 |
| 2018 | 1 |