The Best way to Leave the Solar System Might be to fly Uncomfortably Close to the Sun

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We’ve reported before on the conceptual mission known as the Interstellar Probe. This ambitious mission would visit the interstellar medium about 1,000 AU away from the Sun. But how exactly would the probe get there in a reasonable time frame? It has taken Voyager 35 years to travel less than 10% of that distance. The answer might lie in an old technology that has been given new life by advances in material science – the solar thermal propulsion system.


NASA is now helping develop this system by financing a proof of concept study as part of its NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program. Dr. Jason Benkoski, a material scientist and one of the Interstellar Probe team members at John Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory, will receive $175,000 to study his concept of an updated solar shield and solar thermal propulsion system.

The Best way to Leave the Solar System Might be to fly Uncomfortably Close to the Sun - Universe Today

We’ve reported before on the conceptual mission known as the Interstellar Probe. This ambitious mission would visit the interstellar medium about 1,000 AU away from the Sun. But how exactly would the probe get there in a reasonable time frame? It has taken Voyager 35 years to travel less than...

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