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Project Daedalus
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==Variants== A quantitative engineering analysis of a [[self-replicating spacecraft|self-replicating]] variation on Project Daedalus was published in 1980 by [[Robert Freitas]].<ref>{{cite journal| first=Robert A. Jr.| last=Freitas| title=A Self-Reproducing Interstellar Probe| journal=J. Br. Interplanet. Soc.| volume=33|date=July 1980| pages=251β264| url=http://www.rfreitas.com/Astro/ReproJBISJuly1980.htm|bibcode = 1980JBIS...33..251F }}</ref> The non-replicating design was modified to include all subsystems necessary for self-replication. Use the probe to deliver a seed factory, with a mass of about 443 metric tons, to a distant site. Have the seed factory replicate many copies of itself on-site, to increase its total manufacturing capacity, then use the resulting automated industrial complex to construct probes, with a seed factory on board, over a 1,000-year period. Each REPRO would weigh over 10 million tons due to the extra fuel needed to decelerate from 12% of [[lightspeed]]. Another possibility is to equip the Daedalus with a [[magnetic sail]] similar to the magnetic scoop on a [[Bussard ramjet]] to use the destination star [[heliosphere]] as a brake, making carrying deceleration fuel unnecessary, allowing a much more in-depth study of the star system chosen.
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