A study with state-of-the-art software has discarded technology theorized half a century ago to travel to the stars using hydrogen from the interstellar medium as fuel.In science fiction stories about contact with extraterrestrial civilizations, there is a problem: What kind of propulsion system could make it possible to bridge the enormous distances between the stars?It cannot be done with ordinary rockets like those used to travel to the Moon or Mars.Many more or less speculative ideas have been put forward in this regard, one of them being the "Bussard manifold" or "Ramjet propulsion".It involves capturing protons in interstellar space and then using them for a nuclear fusion reactor.Peter Schattschneider, a physicist at the Vienna University of Technology and science fiction author, has now analyzed this concept in more detail together with his colleague Albert Jackson from the United States.Unfortunately, the result is disappointing for fans of interstellar travel: it cannot work the way that Robert Bussard, the inventor of this propulsion system, thought in 1960. The analysis has now been published in the scientific journal Acta Astronautica. ."The idea is definitely worth investigating," says Professor Peter Schattschneider in a statement."In interstellar space there is highly dilute gas, mainly hydrogen, about one atom per cubic centimeter. If you were to collect hydrogen in front of the spacecraft, like in a magnetic funnel, with the help of huge magnetic fields, you could use it to power a fusion reactor and speed up the spaceship. "In 1960, Robert Bussard published a scientific article about it.Nine years later, this magnetic field was theoretically described for the first time."Since then, the idea has not only excited fans of science fiction, but also generated great interest in the technical and scientific astronautics community," says Peter Schattschneider.Peter Schattschneider and Albert Jackson now took a closer look at the equations, half a century later.The software developed at TU Wien as part of a research project to calculate electromagnetic fields in electron microscopy unexpectedly turned out to be extremely useful: physicists were able to use it to demonstrate that the basic principle of magnetic particle trapping really works.The particles can be collected in the proposed magnetic field and guided to a fusion reactor.In this way, considerable acceleration can be achieved, down to relativistic speeds.However, when the size of the magnetic funnel is calculated, hopes for a visit to our galactic neighbors are quickly dashed.To achieve a thrust of 10 million newtons, equivalent to twice the main propulsion of the space shuttle, the funnel would have to have a diameter of almost 4,000 kilometers.A technically advanced civilization could build something like this, but the real problem is the necessary length of the magnetic fields: the funnel would have to be about 150 million kilometers long, that's the distance between the sun and the Earth.So after half a century of hope for interstellar travel in the distant future, it is now clear that the ramjet thruster, while an interesting idea, will remain simply part of science fiction.If we want to visit our cosmic neighbors one day, we will have to think of something else, the authors say.Olga Moreno, that's how she reacted to the question of the month: did you have dinner with Antonio David on December 24?Rafael Cofiño resigns as general director of Public Health of the Asturian GovernmentMarvel opens the door to the return of Andrew Garfield's Spider-ManActuality and news portal of the Europa Press Agency.© 2021 Europa Press.The redistribution and redistribution of all or part of the contents of this website without your prior and express consent is expressly prohibited.