In the first of a series of 20 articles detailing different aspects of the Project Icarus interstellar spacecraft, Ian Crawford, Reader in Planetary Science and Astrobiology at Birkbeck College, University of London, and Lead Designer for the Icarus "Astronomical Target" module, will detail possible nearby star systems the hundred year mission could target.
The Icarus study is tasked with designing an interstellar space vehicle capable of making in situ scientific investigations of nearby stars.
The specific target star has not yet been selected, but its choice will be constrained by a number of factors. One of these is the design requirement that the target star should be reached within a hundred years of launch, and "ideally much sooner."
Given realistic propulsion options (to be described in later articles in this series), and the further requirement that the scientific payload be decelerated at the target, this implies a maximum realistic range of 15 light-years from the solar system. However, given that the project ideally wishes to complete the mission in much less than 100 years, it follows that the actual target will probably have to be significantly closer than 15 light-years.
This project may be suitable for a robotic probe, but it is not suitable for a manned mission. More on that in an upcoming Stardrive feature article. To read the rest of the article, click here.