Interstellar space travel

It is the longing goal of space travel: the stars. Although humans have not even set foot on Mars, scientists and engineers have been looking for ways to reach our neighboring solar systems for decades.

As early as the sixties, there were ambitious projects to send probes to the stars. In the so-called Orion program, spacecraft were developed that were to be sent to Alpha Centauri with atomic bombs. In the seventies, antimatter drives were developed, and in the eighties, gigantic solar sails were designed to open up the infinity of space to mankind. Today, people are more modest and are researching miniaturized robots that are supposed to reach the neighboring star system in a few decades.

Phillip P. Peterson explains the possible propulsion concepts, introduces nearly forgotten projects, and previews the future of interstellar spaceflight.