Interstellar transmitter Concept (original) (raw)
Related papers
Interstellar Transmitter Concept (King David’s Sling)
A simple operating principle (similar to a combination of a pottery wheel and a catapult or, simply, the weapon used by David to slay Goliath) coupled with the success of some moderate engineering challenges may allow for the transmission of a carrier wave from Earth to Mars in less than one second! This paper also directly addresses the controversy of light speed variance/invariance (which has arisen from the "wave/particle nature of light" debate) by referencing Joseph A. Rybczyk's
Interstellar Communication Theories and its Possibilities
This paper reviews and discusses the research dimensions in four dimensional time travel and time dependencies of future and past on the basis of present. The paper investigates the theories that support time travel in any manner and explore possibilities based on them for interstellar communication.
Tachyons for Interstellar Communication
viXra, 2020
Concerns that tachyons, which have imaginary mass, may violate causality have been been discussed in the context of two distinct embodiments for constructing a message loop. One employs transmitters in motion relative to receivers, while the other has transmitters and receivers at rest with each other and messages are passed between moving observers using electromagnetic signals. The latter (Method II) is of interest only to those who seek to disprove the existence of faster-than-light phenomena by constructing hypothetical thought experiments based solely upon kinematics that purportedly violate causality, often by specious means. The former (Method I), on the other hand, is based upon the wider foundation of both kinematics and dynamics, and sound analysis proves that causality is not violated. For Method I, the relative speed between transmitter and receiver limits the propagation speed according to u = c^2/v, where u is the maximum possible propagation speed and v is the relativ...
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) in the Optical Spectrum II, SPIE Proceedings, 1996
A review of the different proposals made to establish contact with hypothetical neighbors is presented. For almsot 100 years (1822-1921) the dominant paradigm for signaling extraterrestrial beings, was based on the exchange of light nbeam signals. After the success of wireless transatlantic communications and the discovery of radio signals from the cosmos, the main scientific proposals to contact extraterrestrials were based on radio waves. Nevertheless, the development of lasers and other non-linear optical devices, led into a new set of proposals to use them for intreplanetary and interstellar communication means. A review of these proposals and the detection of extraterrestrial technological activities in the optical domain is made. A summary of the requirements need to explore the astrophysics of shortest timescales is described, in order to develop the nano and sub-nanosecond detectors that could be used to discover interstellar pulsed laser signals.
Interstellar Communication Techniques for Long Range Mission Spacecraft
We are presently on the verge of expanding our technology in the outer solar system environment. Voyager 1 has landed its first step outside the hemisphere. Data transfer at large distances of astronomical units and light years is a challenging matter of research and a key issue of the interstellar communication. If robotic instruments are sent aboard interstellar spaceflights, managing them from earth with a definite time lag is a puzzle of its own kind. However artificial intelligence can come out to as a great tool in the future for missions beyond and far from the solar system. For such interstellar medium missions, we need to develop appropriate technology to recover the data from Earth from very large astronomical distances. Assuming that such high velocity unmanned robotic spacecrafts are a nearby possibility, we look into this problem in detail and try to explore the related fields which can help in upgrading the present level of interplanetary space communication. Data transfer has to be efficient with a minimum amount of data loss in travelling long distance in the space particularly the interstellar medium. Properties of interstellar medium can be studied closely in such missions that will carry advanced space based sensors, detectors and scientific instruments for taking measurements during the mission. Such a data can be analyzed by onboard computers and also be sent to earth with minimum possible attenuation due to the effect of large distances in the interstellar medium. Advanced data encryption methods and holographic techniques can be studied in details to shortlist the advanced onboard data-sending instruments technology. This paper discusses these in detail and the inception of appropriate protocols for dealing with these issues
Optical and microwave communications system conceptual design for a realistic interstellar probe
Free-Space Laser Communication and Laser Imaging II, 2002
The concept of a realistic interstellar explorer has been addressed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) with support from the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC). This paper discusses the requirements, conceptual design and technology issues associated with the optical and RF communications systems envisioned for this mission, in which the spacecraft has a projected range of 1000 AU. Well before a range of 100 AU interactive control of the spacecraft becomes nearly impossible, necessitating a highly autonomous craft and one-way communications to Earth. An approach is taken in which the role of the optical downlink is emphasized for data transfer and that of the microwave uplink emphasized for commands. The communication system is strongly influenced by the large distances involved, the high velocities (20 AU/year or ~ 95 km/s) as well as the requirements for low-mass (~ 10 kg), low prime power (~ 15 W), reliability, and spacecraft autonomy. An optical terminal concept is described that has low mass and prime power in a highly integrated and novel architecture, but new technologies are needed to meet the range, mass, and power requirements. These include high-power, "wall-plug" efficient diode-pumped fiber lasers; compact, lightweight, and low-power micro-electromechanical (MEM) beam steering elements; and lightweight diffractive quasi-membrane optics. In addition, a very accurate star tracking mechanism must be fully integrated with the laser downlink to achieve unprecedented pointing accuracy (~ 400 nrad RMS). The essential optical, structural, mechanical, and electronic subsystems are described that meet the mission requirements, and the key features of advanced technologies that need to be developed are discussed. The conclusion from this preliminary effort is that an optical communications downlink out to 1000 astronomical units (AU) is within the realm of technical feasibility in the next 5-10 years if the identified technical risks for the new technologies can be retired.
Relativistic interstellar flight communication theorems
Acta Astronautica, 1992
AbsU'aet--A spaceship, moving at a relativistic speed, sends back to Earth signals embedded in a Gaussian noise (Brownian motion). This noise is emitted in units of the spaceship proper time, but is received in units of the Earth coordinate time. Hence, a suitable time rescaling must be taken into account when trying to filter the signal out of the noise on Earth. One of the best ways to do so is to use the Karhunen-Lo~ve eigenfunction expansion of the noise autocorrelation. In the present paper, we firstly prove that, for all types of spaceship proper acceleration, the Karhunen-Lodve eigenfunctions are Bessel functions of the first kind, and the relevant eigenvalues are the zeros of the Bessel functions. Secondly, we consider the asymptotic motion of the spaceship for large values of the time after departure from Earth. We prove that, if the proper acceleration changes like a power of the time, all formulae for the Karhunen-Lodve expansion can be derived analytically in full detail. Moreover, replacing the Bessel functions by their asymptotic expansion, a further approximation is obtained that is particularly suitable for computer simulations. Thirdly, we consider the noise total as well as instantaneous energy. A second Karhunen-Lo~ve expansion, concerning the noise instantaneous energy, is obtained in full detail, and this may also be simplified to the extent of making it suitable for computer implementation.
Engineering an Interstellar Communications Network by Deploying Relay Probes
Cornell University - arXiv, 2022
We develop a model for an interstellar communication network that is composed of relay nodes that transmit diffractionlimited beams of photons. We provide a multi-dimensional rationale for such a network of communication in lieu of interstellar beacons. We derive a theoretical expression for the bit rate of communication based on fundamental physics, constrained by the energy available for photons and the diffraction of the beam that dilutes the information by the inverse square law. We find that meter-scale probes are severely limited in their bit rate, under 1 Gbps, over distances of a light year. However, that bit rate is proportional to the 4th power of the size of the optics that transmit and receive the photons, and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them, thus favoring large optics and short separations between nodes. The optimized architecture of interstellar communication consists of a network of nodes separated by sublight-year distances and strung out between neighboring stars.
The interstellar communication relay
International Journal of Astrobiology, 2020
The paper describes the architecture for a data repository and distribution system to be used in the case of a SETI detection event. This system is conceptually modelled after the Deep Space Network, although the hardware and infrastructure involved are different and substantially less expensive to operate. The system is designed to accommodate a large number of users from a variety of fields who wish to contribute to the analysis and comprehension effort that would follow the detection of an information-bearing signal.