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PHYSICS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
Such nanoships could be used to reach nearby stars or, as Gerald
Nordley, a retired Air Force astronautical engineer, has suggested, to
push against a solar sail in order to propel it through space. Nordley
says, "With a constellation of pinhead-sized spacecraft flying in formation and communicating with themselves, you could practically push
them with a flashlight."
But there are challenges with nano starships. They might be deflected by passing electric and magnetic fields in outer space. To counteract these forces, one would need to accelerate the nanoships to very
high voltages on the Earth so they would not be easily deflected. Second, we might have to send a swarm of millions of these nanobot starships to guarantee that a handful would actually make it to their
destination. Sending a swarm of starships to explore the nearest stars
might seem extravagant, but such starships would be cheap and could
be mass-produced by the billions, so that only a tiny fraction of them
would have to reach their target.
What might these nanoships look like? Dan Goldin, former head of
NASA, envisioned a fleet of "Coke-can sized" spacecraft. Others have
talked about starships the size of needles. The Pentagon has been looking into the possibility of developing "smart dust," dust-sized particles
that have tiny sensors inside that can be sprayed over a battlefield to
give commanders real-time information. In the future it is conceivable
that "smart dust" might be sent to the nearby stars.
Dust-sized nanobots would have their circuitry made by the same
etching techniques used in the semiconductor industry, which can
create components as small as 30 nm, or roughly 150 atoms across.
These nanobots could be launched from the moon by rail guns or even
by particle accelerators, which regularly send subatomic particles to
near light speed. These devices would be so cheap to make that millions of them could be launched into space.
Once they reached a nearby star system, the nanobots could land
on a desolate moon. Because of the moon's low gravity, a nanobot
would be able to land and take off with ease. And with a stable environment such as a moon would provide, it would make an ideal base
of operations. The nanobot could build a nanofactory, using the min-
PHYSICS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
Such nanoships could be used to reach nearby stars or, as Gerald
Nordley, a retired Air Force astronautical engineer, has suggested, to
push against a solar sail in order to propel it through space. Nordley
says, "With a constellation of pinhead-sized spacecraft flying in formation and communicating with themselves, you could practically push
them with a flashlight."
But there are challenges with nano starships. They might be deflected by passing electric and magnetic fields in outer space. To counteract these forces, one would need to accelerate the nanoships to very
high voltages on the Earth so they would not be easily deflected. Second, we might have to send a swarm of millions of these nanobot starships to guarantee that a handful would actually make it to their
destination. Sending a swarm of starships to explore the nearest stars
might seem extravagant, but such starships would be cheap and could
be mass-produced by the billions, so that only a tiny fraction of them
would have to reach their target.
What might these nanoships look like? Dan Goldin, former head of
NASA, envisioned a fleet of "Coke-can sized" spacecraft. Others have
talked about starships the size of needles. The Pentagon has been looking into the possibility of developing "smart dust," dust-sized particles
that have tiny sensors inside that can be sprayed over a battlefield to
give commanders real-time information. In the future it is conceivable
that "smart dust" might be sent to the nearby stars.
Dust-sized nanobots would have their circuitry made by the same
etching techniques used in the semiconductor industry, which can
create components as small as 30 nm, or roughly 150 atoms across.
These nanobots could be launched from the moon by rail guns or even
by particle accelerators, which regularly send subatomic particles to
near light speed. These devices would be so cheap to make that millions of them could be launched into space.
Once they reached a nearby star system, the nanobots could land
on a desolate moon. Because of the moon's low gravity, a nanobot
would be able to land and take off with ease. And with a stable environment such as a moon would provide, it would make an ideal base
of operations. The nanobot could build a nanofactory, using the min-