Surfing Interstellar Winds: a 40-year Journey to Proxima Centauri with a Near Zero-mass Change Spacecraft

Benedict de St Amatus Alexander de St Amatusn/

jbis-078-04-0107

DOI https://doi.org/10.59332/jbis-078-04-0107

The current study explores a spacecraft propulsion system designed to enable travel through interplanetary and interstellar spaces. The propulsion system functions by modifying the momentum of electrons ejected from the spacecraft as they interact with external electric fields found in both interplanetary and interstellar settings. Additionally, it incorporates a mechanism to maintain the spacecraftÍs mass and electric charge neutrality. Such an approach enables the spacecraft to accelerate or decelerate without the traditional requirement of expelling propellant mass. A theoretical assessment of a voyage to Proxima Centauri involves analysing a spacecraft with a rest mass of 100 tons, equipped with an array of photoemission emitters. These emitters are designed to expel electrons at velocities reaching 1% of the speed of light relative to the spacecraft. Initial computations suggest that the journey to Proxima Centauri under these specifications would take an estimated 40.55 years..

Keywords: Near Zero-mass Change Propulsion, External Electric Field Propulsion, Interplanetary and Interstellar Space Missions