Recently, two key figures in the aerospace industry have talked about antimatter propulsion and imagined the future of human beings traveling across star systems. These remarks have also made many people pay attention to this space power solution that only exists in theory.Musk recently posted on social platforms, saying that in the future, humans will invest trillions by trillions of dollars to produce antimatter and rely on this energy to complete voyages to other stars. He also added that in an era when we can freely travel across galaxies, currency will lose its measurement value, and mass and energy will become universal measurement standards.
Not long after this news was posted, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman directly left a message to express his position, making it clear that he supports the research and development of antimatter propulsion technology, and officially recognized this development idea for interstellar navigation.
Antimatter can be favored by two people, and the core lies in maximizing the energy release efficiency. When matter and antimatter meet, they will be completely converted into energy.At the same mass, the energy released by the annihilation of matter and antimatter is 10 billion times that of chemical rocket fuel and 300 times that of nuclear fusion power.
Only a small amount of antimatter can propel a spacecraft to fly at high speed for a long time. It is the only feasible direction that can shorten interstellar voyages outside of existing technology.
Judging from the current technical level, it is extremely difficult to achieve this goal. Currently, global equipment can only produce a very small amount of antimatter every year, and the production cost per gram is unimaginably high. If you want to make up the amount that can be used by a spacecraft, the investment will reach astronomical figures as Musk said.
Storage is also an unavoidable problem. Antimatter will instantly annihilate and explode when it encounters ordinary matter. The whole process requires ultra-strong magnetic field and vacuum environment isolation. The supporting equipment is large and power-consuming, and it is difficult to install it into a spacecraft. In addition, the strong radiation produced by the reaction will threaten the safety of astronauts, and there has been no breakthrough in the controllable adjustment of the annihilation rate.
The statements made by Musk and NASA executives are more about setting long-term exploration directions and are not projects that can be implemented in the short term. At present, the two institutions are still focusing on technologies such as Mars landing and nuclear fusion rockets that are easier to implement. Antimatter propulsion will only continue to be studied as a long-term scientific research goal.
Although it is still hundreds of thousands of years away from practical use, the two industry leaders are optimistic about antimatter power, which also means that human interstellar exploration is no longer limited to the inner solar system and begins to look toward more distant interstellar space.