The Relativistic Rocketeer

About the Book

This book provides an eclectic mix of advanced starship-propulsion scenarios. Some portions of the book include advanced mathematics while other portions are merely arithmetical and prosaic. Methods for obtaining extreme Lorentz factors are conjectured including supporting energy sources and necessary spacecraft shielding. The reader of the book will come away with a new understanding of the ramifications of travel at near the speed of light and how this may be accomplished. My intention in presenting scenarios for extreme Lorentz factors is to embolden the theoretician and applied-physics practitioners with the understanding that plausible mechanisms may enable cosmic-scale distance and future time travel during periods as short as the Planck time unit in the ship frame.

About the Author

My infatuation with manned space exploration began early in grade school, fueled by the Apollo Space Program and lunar landings and the promise of manned missions to distant planets in the not-so-distant future. It seemed as though by the 1980s, we would definitely be sending humans on Martian exploratory missions. My interest in manned space travel waned a bit during the late 1970s through the mid-1990s, but picked up again after I had read a book on real world potential interstellar travel methods based mainly on known and well established physics. I hold a B.S. in Physics from George Mason University.