Near Term Interstellar Missions : Finding and Reaching Interstellar Objects

Paper number

IAC-19,D4,4,5,x54556

Author

Mr. T. Marshall Eubanks, United States, Space Initiatives Inc.

Coauthor

Dr. Andreas Makoto Hein, France, Ecole Centrale de Paris

Coauthor

Mr. Robert Kennedy, United States, Initiative for Interstellar Studies

Year

2019

Abstract

1I/’Oumuamua (or 1I) is the first InterStellar Object (ISO) known to pass through the Solar System. 1I was unfortunately found in October 2017, after its perihelion, and is now on its way out of the Solar System.  On the opening day of the 2019 IAC, it will be 14 Astronomical Units (AU) distant, well beyond the orbit of Saturn, and proceeding away from the Sun at 28.6 km / second. Despite this, 1I is without question closest and easiest to reach Interstellar target for spacecraft exploration, by several orders of magnitude. Even in the 2060s  it will still be 1000 times closer, and that much easier to reach, than the nearest stars. 

1I remains mysterious, exhibiting characteristics that have never before been observed in a celestial body, providing ample motivation for \textit{in situ} spacecraft exploration. In Project Lyra, we and our colleagues have explored possible mission scenarios, both in the near term, leaving Earth in the early 2020s [1], and in subsequent decades [2]. 

Of course, if there is one ISO passing through the Solar System, there should be others. 1I kinematically appears to be part of the Pleiades Dynamical Stream (or Moving Group); the dynamical streams being a major part of the organization of stellar (and presumably also ISO) trajectories in the Galaxy. If ISOs, like stars, are predominantly  entrained in a dynamical stream, their incoming velocities (magnitude and radiants) can be predicted, which will enable deep surveys looking for ISOs well before perihelion. This will assist in the execution of rapid-response missions to future ISOs transiting the Solar System.

Whether a mission is send to 1I, or a mission is sent to a subsequent ISO (or both), it seems clear that the first interstellar mission will be to one of these objects. 

[1] Hein, A. M., Perakis, N., Long, K. F., et al. 2017, ArXiv e-prints. https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.03155
[2] Hibberd, A., Hein, A. M., & Eubanks, T. M. 2019, arXiv e-prints, arXiv:1902.04935. 
https://arxiv.org/abs/1902.04935
[3] Eubanks, T. M. 2019, in Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Vol. 50, 3262

Abstract document

IAC-19,D4,4,5,x54556.brief.pdf

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