Deep Space Propulsion: A Roadmap to Interstellar Flight (Astronomers' Universe) - Tapa blanda

From the book reviews:

“This is a readable, insightful and personal history of interstellar travel thinking with a focus on propulsion ... . each chapter has an ‘introduction’ providing a short overview of the chapter while the ‘practice exercises’ at the end are to stimulate discussion. ... The theoretical background presented here by Long deserves to be read and the bibliography deserves to be considered as a starting point for anyone interested in these topics. The colour illustrations are very helpful.” (Anders Hansson, The Aeronautical Journal, November, 2014)

The technology of the next few decades could possibly allow us to explore with robotic probes the closest stars outside our Solar System, and maybe even observe some of the recently discovered planets circling these stars. This book looks at the reasons for exploring our stellar neighbors and at the technologies we are developing to build space probes that can traverse the enormous distances between the stars.

In order to reach the nearest stars, we must first develop a propulsion technology that would take our robotic probes there in a reasonable time. Such propulsion technology has radically different requirements from conventional chemical rockets, because of the enormous distances that must be crossed. Surprisingly, many propulsion schemes for interstellar travel have been suggested and await only practical engineering solutions and the political will to make them a reality. This is a result of the tremendous advances in astrophysics that have been made in recent decades and the perseverance and imagination of tenacious theoretical physicists. This book explores these different propulsion schemes – all based on current physics – and the challenges they present to physicists, engineers, and space exploration entrepreneurs.

This book will be helpful to anyone who really wants to understand the principles behind and likely future course of interstellar travel and who wants to recognizes the distinctions between pure fantasy (such as Star Trek’s ‘warp drive’) and methods that are grounded in real physics and offer practical technological solutions for exploring the stars in the decades to come.