Interstellar Travel. Imagine spacecraft propelled by light itself—researchers are exploring gamma rays as rocket fuel, a concept inspired by visionary aerospace engineer Eugen Sänger, potentially unlocking intergalactic travel beyond our wildest dreams

Yes, researchers are exploring gamma rays as a potential rocket fuel to enable interstellar travel:

Concept 

The idea is to use a focused laser beam of gamma rays to create a “photon avalanche” inside a spacecraft. The recoil from the beam would be absorbed by a magnetic field and transmitted to the spacecraft, providing momentum

Theoretical possibility 

A 2012 article in Acta Astronautica proposed that this method could reach relativistic spacecraft velocities

Practicality 

The first application of this method could be for small unmanned interstellar probes. However, some say that the veracity of the research is under dispute, and no successful implementations have been peer reviewed or replicated

Other research 

In 2020, teams in Sweden and Iceland suggested ways to use hydrogen fuel to generate the power for larger rockets

The concept of using gamma rays as rocket fuel was inspired by aerospace engineer Eugen Sänger. 

Antimatter rocket

An antimatter rocket is a proposed class of rockets that use antimatter as their power source. There are several designs that attempt to accomplish this goal. The advantage to this class of rocket is that a large fraction of the rest mass of a matter/antimatter mixture may be converted to energy, allowing antimatter rockets to have a far higher energy density and specific impulse than any other proposed class of rocket

The ability to make coherent gamma rays would be a scientific revolution in creating new kinds of light sources, similar to how the discovery and development of visible light and X-ray sources changed our fundamental understanding of the atomic world,” Antonino Di Piazza, Ph.D., a University of Rochester physics professor and lead investigator of the new work, says in a press release

The first step toward building any working laser is to show that the science works, he says. “We are not the first scientists who have tried creating gamma rays in this way. But we are doing so using a fully quantum theory—quantum electrodynamics—which is an advanced approach to addressing this problem.”

The team will analyze how one or two electrons emit light. Eventually, they hope to work with many electrons in order to produce coherent gamma rays. If the team learns how to keep the beam coherent and stable for long periods of time, gamma rays could become a new source of energy for creating antimatter(like matter, but with the opposite electric charge). They could also provide a new way to study nuclear processes and scan the insides of dense objects like shipping containers.

It is shown that the idea of a photon rocket through the complete annihilation of matter with antimatter, first proposed by Sänger, is not a utopian scheme as it is widely believed. Its feasibility appears to be possible by the radiative collapse of a relativistic high current pinch discharge in a hydrogen–antihydrogen ambiplasma down to a radius determined by Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. Through this collapse to ultrahigh densities the proton–antiproton pairs in the center of the pinch can become the upper gigaelectron volt laser level for the transition into a coherent gamma ray beam by proton–antiproton annihilation, with the magnetic field of the collapsed pinch discharge absorbing the recoil momentum of the beam and transmitting it by the Moessbauer effect to the spacecraft. The gamma ray laser beam is launched as a photon avalanche from one end of the pinch discharge channel. Because of the enormous technical problems to produce and store large amounts of anti-matter, such a propulsion concept may find its first realization in small unmanned space probes to explore nearby solar systems. The laboratory demonstration of a gigaelectron volt gamma ray laser by comparison requiring small amounts of anti-matter may be much closer.

Cosmic rays

Cosmic rays are subatomic particles that travel through interstellar space at nearly the speed of light and could potentially be used for interstellar travel

What they are 

Cosmic rays are energetic particles that are made up of charged particles, like protons and electrons, and neutral particles, like photons and neutrinos. They are produced by natural particle accelerators in space, such as exploding stars, black holes, and the sun

How they travel 

Cosmic rays travel through space in a variety of types and energies, with the highest energy cosmic rays having as much kinetic energy as a fast-thrown baseball. However, their paths are scrambled by magnetic fields as they travel through space, making it difficult to trace them back to their sources. 

Cosmic rays are actually particles from space that travel across the universe. They started out as atoms that had their outer layers stripped away and are now just nuclei. They move extremely fast—nearly the speed of light.

Quantum quest

Quantum mechanics could play a role in interstellar travel by allowing a way to bypass the restrictions of spacetime. Here are some ways quantum mechanics could be relevant to interstellar travel: 

Quantum entanglement 

A phenomenon where particles become interconnected so that the state of one particle instantly influences the state of the other, no matter the distance

Quantum gravity 

A theory that merges quantum mechanics and general relativity. Some believe that spacetime might emerge from a deeper aspect of reality, and that quantum mechanics could have tricks that an advanced alien species might know about

Wormholes 

A theoretical concept that could allow for interstellar travel. However, traveling through a wormhole could lead to information loss, making it impractical

Other concepts related to interstellar travel include

The Alcubierre Drive: A theoretical concept that involves warping spacetime

Dark matter and energy: Recent observations and studies into these topics have opened new avenues of research. 

Nanoparticle field extraction thruster (nanoFET): A technology being developed by the University of Michigan that uses nanoparticles as propellant

Antimatter fuel

Antimatter could be a promising fuel source for interstellar travel because it has the potential to reduce travel times to other planets and stars:

High specific impulse 

Antimatter has a much higher specific impulse than chemical or nuclear propulsion, which could significantly reduce travel times. 

Energy release 

When antimatter and matter collide, they annihilate and produce a huge amount of energy. This energy could be used to accelerate or decelerate spacecraft

Efficiency 

Matter-antimatter propulsion is highly efficient because 100% of the mass of the matter and antimatter is converted into energy

Antimatter engines could be humanity’s ticket to interstellartravel. When antimatter particles come in contact with regular matter, it produces loads of energy. That energy, if we learn to harness it, could get us to Pluto in just a few weeks

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