Spacecraft Could Approach Speed of Light by Riding Supernovas, Radical Study Proposes

MATT WILLIAMS, UNIVERSE TODAY3 MAR 2020

When it comes to the challenges posed by interstellar travel, there are no easy answers. The distances are immense, the amount of energy needed to make the journey is tremendous, and the time scales involved are (no pun!) astronomical.

But what if there was a way to travel between stars using ships that take advantage of natural phenomena to reach relativistic velocities (a fraction of the speed of light).

Already, scientists have identified situations where objects in our Universe are able to do this – including hypervelocity stars and meteors accelerated by supernovae explosions.

Delving into this further, Harvard professors Manasvi Lingam and Abraham Loeb recently explored how interstellar spacecraft could harness the waves produced by a supernova explosion in the same way that sailing ships harness the wind.

More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/could-we-ride-the-wave-of-a-supernova-to-go-interstellar