Interstellar space travel idea can get you half a million dollars

Interstellar Space Travel In The Works

Interstellar space travel is commonly found in science fiction books and movies but the U.S. Department of Defense wants to make it science fact.

Dangling a grant worth half a million dollars, the Defense Department wanted to elicit bright ideas from the private sector to make space travel possible within the next 100 years.

So far, 150 entries have submitted their proposals to make interstellar space travel a reality. The participants range from big companies to individuals wanting to make a name for themselves.

Known for using big money for programs such as the so-called "Star Wars" missile defense system, the Defense Department wants the prize to serve as seed money to make their project.

The Starship Study of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will be using a $1 million fund initially to set-up the contest. DARPA will decide in November who gets the grant.

Current NASA projects mostly involve interplanetary travel, but the Defense Department wants to go far beyond our solar system and reach into stars, the nearest of which is 40 trillion kilometers away.

The interstellar space travel project will have to come up with a complete package from novel propulsion systems unlike conventional rockets and life support systems designed for the long trip.

Millionaire scientist Craig Venter, the architect of the human genome study, is already looking at alternative fuels and artificial life as components of a future interstellar space travel project.

Some groups criticized the decision to allocate scarce funds into space travel programs, citing the need to use money to solve problems here on earth.

Posted by Sophia Andrews on Monday June 20 2011, 6:29 AM EST. Ref: AP. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Travel. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0