And if the larger spatial mission of history only weighed a few grams ? L’Chinese astrophysicist Cosimo Bambi Imagine a daring project: to propel a tiny machine, no bigger than tromboneuntil a black hole To test them laws of physics in a extreme environment.
The idea seems to be out of a novel from science-fictionbut it is based on a very long -term scientific vision.
Identify a black hole in range and design a spatial mission on several generations
Pour Cosimo Bambibetter understand the black holes and the general relativity d’Einstein requires approaching it directly. First step: find a near black hole.
Calculations suggest that there is probably one by only 20 to 25 light years. According to the researcher, we could identify him In ten years thanks to the progress of telescopes and gravitational detection.
Then we should design a miniature vessel Ultra-light, far too small to embark a classic engine. The solution? A photone sail powered by powerful lasers terrestrescapable of pushing the machine to a third of the speed of light.
The calendar envisaged is impressive: about ten years To find the target, twenty years To develop technology, seventy travel, then again twenty years to receive them data on earth. In other words, a mission spanning more thana centuryrequiring the cooperation of several generations of scientists and ofengineers.
Travel a miniature vessel to probe physical laws near a black hole
Once arrived near the black holece trombone spatial could measure crucial parameters: deformations of thespace-timebehavior of the matter under one extreme severityand maybe even clues on gravitational quantum physics.
These data would offer a unique opportunity to test whether the known laws remain valid in such extreme conditions. They could also highlight completely phenomena unpublishedcapable of upsetting our understanding of theUniverse.
However, the obstacles are immense. Today we cannot build a vessel So small and resistant. THE lasers necessary would cost approximately 1,000 billion euros. In addition, propeling an object to such speeds requires a precision extreme to target the black hole.
From the crazy idea to real advances: when science catches fiction
For many, this project seems unrealistic. However, the history of astronomy is full of examples where the impossible has become reality. In the 1970s, little believed that a directly observed a black hole. However, in less than fifty years, we have obtained two historical images of their shadowsthanks to Event Horizon telescope.
Cosimo Bambi Building on the same dynamic: technological advancesassociated with a international cooperationcould reduce costs and make this mission possible. If one day it interstellar trombone was born, he would mark a turning point in thespatial explorationrejecting the borders of our awareness.
Today, it remains an ambitious dream. But in a century, this dream could become one of the greatest Scientific adventures of humanity. After all, the science has always advanced thanks to those who dare to think the impossible.