00:03The Voyager 1 space probe was launched some 45 years ago, back in 1977, and is now currently
00:10around 14.6 billion miles away.
00:13That means it officially entered interstellar space in 2012, taking it around 35 years.
00:18But now NASA says they have a theoretical propulsion system that could get a craft there
00:22in only five.
00:23It's called pellet beam propulsion, and it involves a spacecraft way out in space and
00:27another in orbit around Earth.
00:29The orbiting craft would then shoot microscopic particles at the journeying spacecraft, with
00:33an Earth-based laser heating up those particles, accelerating them as they slam into the traveling
00:38spacecraft.
00:39They call it laser ablation, and it could theoretically produce unlimited acceleration, meaning unlimited
00:44speeds in space.
00:45With the researchers writing, the pellets being much heavier than photons can carry more momentum
00:49and can transfer a higher force to the spacecraft.
00:52For reference, current means of propulsion can get a craft to Neptune in around 12 years.
00:56With the conceptual pellet beam accelerators, however, experts say it would only take
01:00one.
Comments