Radiation Hazard of Relativistic Interstellar Flight · HackerPapers discussions

Radiation Hazard of Relativistic Interstellar Flight — mentioned by sehansen

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 10:49:02 GMT

If "closest star" is Proxima Centauri, we're talking 4.5 light-years. Getting there in 1000 years means an average speed of 0.45% of the speed of light. At that speed less than 0.01 cm of titanium is enough shielding to keep the radiation out according to figure 1c) in my source below. Which makes sense because because this is ~10% of the speed of "normal" alpha radiation which is stopped by just your skin. "Radiation Hazard of Relativistic Interstellar Flight" by Oleg Semyonov: https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0610030 via Project Rho: https://projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/slowerlight3.php

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

Radiation Hazard of Relativistic Interstellar Flight — mentioned by bhickey

Tue, 06 Feb 2024 11:01:04 GMT

Here's one paper on the subject. There are others, but I've run out of steam for trawling through Scholar and arXiv. Radiation hazard of relativistic space flight https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0610030

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

Radiation Hazard of Relativistic Interstellar Flight — mentioned by davedx

Fri, 05 May 2017 15:47:13 GMT

This is a fascinating read: https://arxiv.org/pdf/physics/0610030.pdf

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.