Project Lyra is a feasibility study of a mission to interstellar objects such as

ʻOumuamua Oumuamua is the first known interstellar object detected passing through the Solar System. Naming of comets#Current system, Formally designated 1I/2017 U1, it was discovered by Robert Weryk using the Pan-STARRS telescope at Haleakalā Obser ...

and

2I/Borisov 2I/Borisov, originally designated C/2019 Q4 (Borisov), is the first observed rogue comet and the second observed interstellar interloper after ʻOumuamua. It was discovered by the Crimean amateur astronomer and telescope maker Gennadiy Borisov ...

, initiated on 30 October 2017 by the

Initiative for Interstellar Studies The Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is) is a UK-registered not-for-profit company, whose objectives are education and research into the challenges of Interstellar Travel. It pioneered small-scale laser sail interstellar probes (Project Dra ...

(i4is). In January 2022, researchers proposed that a spacecraft launched from Earth could catch up to 'Oumuamua in 26 years for further close-up studies.

Overview

The suggested options for sending a spacecraft to ʻOumuamua within a time-frame of 5 to 10 years are based on using first a Jupiter flyby, followed by a close solar flyby at 3 to 10 solar radii, in order to take advantage of the Oberth effect; or, more advanced options such as a

solar sail Solar sails (also known as light sails and photon sails) are a method of spacecraft propulsion using radiation pressure exerted by sunlight on large mirrors. A number of spaceflight missions to test solar propulsion and navigation have been p ...

, laser sail, or

nuclear propulsion Nuclear propulsion includes a wide variety of propulsion methods that use some form of nuclear reaction as their primary power source. The idea of using nuclear material for propulsion dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. In 1903 it was ...

Detail

ʻOumuamua was at first thought to be traveling too fast for any existing spacecraft to reach. The

(i4is) launched Project Lyra to assess the feasibility of a mission to ʻOumuamua. Several options for sending a spacecraft to ʻOumuamua within a time-frame of 5 to 25 years were suggested. The challenge is to get to the asteroid in a reasonable amount of time (and so at a reasonable distance from Earth), and yet be able to gain useful scientific information. To do this, decelerating the spacecraft at ʻOumuamua would be "highly desirable, due to the minimal science return from a hyper-velocity encounter". If the investigative craft goes too fast, it would not be able to get into orbit or land on the asteroid, and would fly past it. The authors conclude that, although challenging, an encounter mission would be feasible using near-term technology. Seligman and Laughlin adopt a complementary approach to the Lyra study, but also conclude that such missions, though challenging to mount, are both feasible and scientifically attractive. One option is using first a Jupiter flyby, followed by a close solar flyby at , in order to take advantage of the Oberth effect. Subsequent proposals have relaxed the distance to up to . Different mission durations and their velocity requirements were explored with respect to the launch date, assuming direct impulsive transfer to the intercept trajectory. A spacecraft with a mass of tens of kilograms, using a heat shield like that in the Parker Solar Probe, and a Falcon Heavy-class launcher with a trajectory including a powered Jupiter flyby, and a solar Oberth maneuver, was calculated to be able to reach ʻOumuamua, had it been launched in 2021. More advanced options such as solar, laser electric propulsion, laser sail propulsion based on

Breakthrough Starshot Breakthrough Starshot is a research and engineering project by the Breakthrough Initiatives to develop a Proof of concept, proof-of-concept fleet of light sail interstellar probes named ''Starchip'', to be capable of making the journey to the A ...

technology, and nuclear propulsion have also been considered.

References

{{Reflist Spaceflight concepts Proposed space probes Hyperbolic asteroids Interstellar travel