New Superhighway system to travel via Solar System faster discovered: Scientists

Team Udayavani, Dec 14, 2020, 1:10 PM IST

UC San Diego revealed researchers have discovered a new “superhighway” network to travel through the Solar System much faster.

Such routes can drive comets and asteroids near Jupiter to Neptune in less than 10 years. Scientists found the routes by computing how “millions” of Solar System orbits fit within already-known space manifolds.

According to scitech.daily, In their paper, published in the November 25, 2020, issue of Science Advances, the researchers observed the dynamical structure of these routes, forming a connected series of arches inside what’s known as space manifolds that extend from the asteroid belt to Uranus and beyond.

This newly discovered “celestial autobahn,” or celestial highway, acts over several decades, as opposed to the hundreds of thousands or millions of years that usually characterize Solar System dynamics.

The approach could significantly cut the time it takes to visit the outer reaches of the Solar System. It might also lead to more efficient trips by cutting back on the amount of energy involved to propel forward.