Editorial: "We should all be able to name objects in space"
CHOCOLATE, marshmallows and basalt rock aren't normally associated with interstellar travel. But all were involved in recent tests of DE-STAR, a laser technology that might, one day, propel spaceships bound for the stars.
It is just one of the ideas presented last week at Icarus Interstellar's Starship Congress in Dallas, Texas – the first public meeting of the group, which aims to pursue designs for interstellar craft. Others include a 10-kilogram craft, a "CubeSat", and one that makes its own fuel from the hydrogen in the interstellar medium.
Dreams of interstellar travel are nothing new, and many still think that they will remain just that. But the non-profit Icarus Interstellar group, formed in 2011 from the ashes of a similar 1970s effort, Project Daedalus, say that several factors make such an ambitious goal worth reconsidering ...
To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content.
