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Robert Lull Forward (August 15, 1932 – September 21, 2002) was an American physicist and science fiction writer. [2] His literary work was noted for its scientific credibility and use of ideas developed from his career as an aerospace engineer .
In 1963, Robert L. Forward described hypothetical experiments that could use degenerate matter to explore gravitational effects and the potential for antigravity. The experiments involved cooling neutrons to temperatures sufficiently low to allow them to condense into neutron matter, and then subjecting them to rotating magnetic fields to ...
The fission sail is a type of spacecraft propulsion proposed by Robert Forward that uses fission fragments to propel a large solar sail-like craft.It is similar in concept to the fission-fragment rocket in that the fission by-products are directly harnessed as working mass, and differs primarily in the way that the fragments are used for thrust.
The speculative fiction writer and physicist Robert L. Forward has argued that an interstellar mission that cannot be completed within 50 years should not be started at all. Instead, assuming that a civilization is still on an increasing curve of propulsion system velocity and not yet having reached the limit, the resources should be invested ...
The fission sail is a type of spacecraft propulsion proposed by Robert Forward that uses fission fragments to propel a large solar sail-like craft. [1] It is similar in concept to the fission-fragment rocket in that the fission by-products are directly harnessed as working mass, and differs primarily in the way that the fragments are used for thrust.
In 1977, Hans Moravec [6] and later Robert L. Forward investigated the physics of non-synchronous skyhooks, also known as rotating skyhooks, and performed detailed simulations of tapered rotating tethers that could pick objects off, and place objects onto, the Moon, Mars and other planets, with little loss, or even a net gain of energy. [7] [8]
Propulsion is the generation of force by any combination of pushing or pulling to modify the translational motion of an object, which is typically a rigid body (or an articulated rigid body) but may also concern a fluid. [1] The term is derived from two Latin words: pro, meaning before or forward; and pellere, meaning to drive. [2]
"Starwisp" is a concept for an ultra-low-mass interstellar probe pushed by a microwave beam. It was proposed by scientist and author Robert L. Forward in 1985, [1] and further work was published by Geoffrey A. Landis in 2000. [2] The proposed device uses beam-powered propulsion in the form of a high-power microwave antenna pushing a sail.