In the constellation Centauri, 4.37 light-years away from Earth, there is likely to be a terrestrial planet suitable for life - Alpha Star. If humans want to live on this planet, how can they get there?
Perhaps the antimatter engine could be used to provide power, powered by the tremendous amount of energy released when antimatter and matter annihilated each other. However, the problem with this antimatter engine is how to produce enough antimatter during the voyage and store it. Science fiction writer and NASA physicist Jeffrey Landis said: "Currently, all methods of making antimatter require large particle accelerators, and there are only a handful of antimatter produced. In addition, if you want to store one gram of antimatter, you need one ton of magnets. The idea of stockpiling large amounts of antimatter sounds easy, but it's not so easy to implement. This assumption has not yet been overturned, and a little antimatter can do us a great favor. ”
The famous British physicist Stephen Hawking has previously said that human beings will leave the solar system in the future to find other viable planets, and antimatter energy will be the main power of spacecraft in interstellar travel. "Using the energy generated by the matter/antimatter hedge, a spacecraft can reach sub-light speeds," Hawking said. This will allow us to fly to the nearest star in just six years. "Antimatter propulsion is seen as a very promising way to interstellar travel. According to Einstein's law of relativity, the potential of matter is maximized by using the matter-antimatter annihilation reaction to convert all mass into kinetic energy.
Physicist Robert Bouchard proposed the use of electromagnetic fields to fuel nuclear-powered rockets by absorbing pure hydrogen. Nuclear fuel is made into many tiny particles, "miniature hydrogen bombs", and then heated to extremely high temperatures by lasers or particle beams and causes an explosion, and the resulting shock wave and particle flow will form a reaction thrust. Ignite the "miniature hydrogen bombs" one by one to gain pulsating sustained thrust. Unfortunately, this jet engine of Bouchard may not work. "Interstellar media is not as dense as Bouchard thinks," Landis said. So far, all attempts to design some kind of jet engine have produced rear drag rather than rear thrust. Moreover, we don't really understand how to use pure hydrogen from interstellar sources as fusion fuel. This is a good idea, but it is not realistic. ”
Light navigation may be another method – relying on the slight thrust provided by the beam for light reflection navigation. Lightnavigation doesn't just use the large amount of light energy from the sun, it also uses laser beams to provide additional propulsion, especially when the spacecraft is traveling farther away from the sun. The problem with interstellar voyages with the help of lasers is that a large amount of light needs to be used over a long period of time to reach Alpha Centauri quickly during the lifetime of a person, which means that a large number of high-energy lasers need to be used throughout the voyage.
Compared with traditional chemical propulsion, the most prominent advantage of laser propulsion is that it does not need to carry fuel. When a spacecraft flies in the atmosphere, it only needs to heat the air, and after passing through the atmosphere, it only needs a small amount of working matter to work. Since the emergence of lasers in the early 60s of the 20th century, due to the huge potential advantages of laser propulsion, developed countries such as the United States, Russia, and Germany have jointly tackled key problems and made unremitting efforts in the field of laser propulsion. At present, the United States, Russia and other countries have proposed and manufactured laser light boats, and regard laser propulsion as a priority goal for the development of delivery vehicles. It is predicted that if a breakthrough can be made in the development of a new generation of high-power lasers, by around 2015, hundreds of kilograms of small satellites can be put into orbit using laser propulsion systems.
(Excerpt from "China UFO Information Network" March 18, 2008, abridged)
7. One of the following statements about the mode of interstellar navigation described in the text is incorrect
A. Starships equipped with antimatter engines powered by matter-antimatter hedging can be close to the speed of light.
B. Because of the enormous potential of antimatter, antimatter propulsion is seen as an extremely effective way of interstellar navigation.
C. A nuclear-powered rocket that uses an electromagnetic field to absorb pure hydrogen as fuel, and its power comes from the reaction thrust formed by the explosion of many miniature "hydrogen bombs".
D. Light navigation, which can be carried out using sunlight energy or the propulsion provided by the laser beams generated by the lasers installed on the starship.
8. The following judgment on the advantages and disadvantages of several interstellar navigation methods is incorrect
A. The amount of antimatter required by a spacecraft with an antimatter engine is much lower than the amount of energy required by traditional chemical propulsion methods, but the acquisition and storage of antimatter faces some problems.
B. One of the advantages of using electromagnetic fields to fuel nuclear-powered rockets is that they do not need to carry pure hydrogen fuel in advance, but draw it from interstellar space, but its jet engine may not work.
C. The reason why laser propulsion is a priority goal in the development of interstellar launch vehicles is that it does not need to carry any fuel and can easily become a reality.
D. Physicist Robert Bouchard's idea, although good, had a problem that was difficult to solve for a while: so far, all attempts to design some kind of jet engine have produced rear drag.
9. One of the following statements is fully consistent with the meaning of the original text
A. The idea of stockpiling large quantities of antimatter, while not yet overturned, is not so easy to implement.
B. British physicist Stephen Hawking's idea of using antimatter energy was questioned and denied by the American science fiction writer Jeffrey Landis.
C. The concentration of pure hydrogen in interstellar space is not as dense as Bouchard thinks, and the use of this pure hydrogen as a fuel for nuclear fusion is not really understood.
D. In order for a light-navigating starship to quickly reach Alpha Centauri during the lifetime of a person, it requires the use of high-energy lasers in large quantities over a long period of time, and the existing lasers obviously cannot meet this requirement.
10. Based on the information provided in the original text, one of the following inferences is correct:
A. Judging from the proficiency of existing science and technology, light navigation is the first choice of human interstellar navigation, and it will definitely be the first way for human beings to reach Alpha Star.
B. In about seven years, a breakthrough will be made in the development of a new generation of high-power lasers, and then mankind will be able to start interstellar voyages.
C. Since the matter/antimatter hedge can maximize the potential of matter, antimatter energy will be used as the main power of the starship, so the installation of antimatter engines in the starship will be an inevitable choice for mankind in the future.
D. By comparing with these interstellar navigation modes described in the article, it can be felt that traditional rockets have two major shortcomings: speed and fuel.