An international team of scientists, engineers and urban planners united in the Project Hyperion consortium has announced a competition to create a conceptual design for a spacecraft to travel between star systems. The basic requirement is that the vehicle must be capable of sustaining crew life for generations. The award fund for the contest is 10,000 dollars.
Project objectives and constraints
The competition doesn’t provide for immediate realization of the project, but it is a kind of “thought experiment”. Participants should develop a design based on current or emerging technologies. For example, current engines make it possible to reach the nearest star system, Proxima Centauri, which is more than 4 light-years away, in more than 1,000 years. However, even with futuristic engines, that time could be reduced to 350-100 years.
Therefore, another major requirement is that the imaginary spacecraft should be self-sufficient to support the life, reproduction, and evolution of the crew over the centuries. The project assumes that the spacecraft is designed for a trip lasting an average of 250 years.
Among the basic requirements are:
- creation of artificial gravity (e.g., through rotation),
- protection against cosmic radiation,
- life support for 500-1500 residents on board,
- autonomous production of food and necessary resources.
Social and technical challenges
Unlike the creation of small interstellar probes such as current designs, the competition aims to develop a large-scale craft comparable to “ocean liners” in space. According to Andreas Hein, a member of the competition’s organizing committee, such spacecraft would likely use fusion engines, but would require much greater integration of technology and societal models.
Teams must include engineers, designers and sociologists. This makes it possible to take into account not only technical aspects, but also the dynamics of life in a resource-constrained environment.
Importance for the Earth
According to architect Yazgi Demirbas, the competition not only expands our vision of the future of space travel, but can also help solve pressing problems on Earth. Modeling life on an autonomous spacecraft is like finding solutions to global challenges, such as climate change or the depletion of natural resources.
“By exploring opportunities beyond Earth, we can find new approaches to harmony and sustainability on our planet,” Demirbas added.
This competition is a unique opportunity for engineers, scientists and designers to test their ideas that may one day change the way we think about interstellar travel and life itself. Authors are asked to send their ideas to a special form on the official project website projecthyperion.org.
Provided by sciencealert.com
