From: kym@kymhorsell.com   
      
   MrPostingRobot@kymhorsell.com wrote:   
   > EXECUTIVE SUMMARY   
   >   
   > - We look at yet another model of UFO interplanetary flight, this time   
   >  using detailed day by day planetary positions from an ephemeris s/w.   
   > - All flights are assumed to start on a single planet -- either Jup,   
   >  Sat, Ura, Nep, or Plu -- and all travel to Earth is in a straight   
   >  line at constant speed.  We don't bother to handle any intersection   
   >  of the flight and another planet or the Sun.   
   > - Assuming flights start equally on any day of the epoch we gather the   
   >  distribution of end dates and compare that against UFO sightings   
   >  over time.   
   > - It turns out the "most likely" parameters have UFO's mostly starting   
   >  from Neptune and transit speeds being a constant .25 AU/d -- approx   
   >  450 km/sec.   
   > - A previous exercise -- using lagged regressions with some ambiguity   
   >  related to when a transit might start in relation to the minimum   
   >  distance between the origin and Earth -- estimated a speed around   
   >  850 km/sec.   
   ...   
      
   I just read an article about the proposed "plasma magnet"   
   aka "Wind Rider" interplanetary drive first proposed 2005.   
   A group is trying to get some money together to create a demo of   
   the system to fly to Jupiter.   
      
   I'd heard of various "solar sail" concepts over the years but hadnt   
   realized this system was a bit different from my naive concept of   
   an actual sail that captures the solar wind (as opposed to sunlight).   
      
   Under the plasma magnet idea a large magnet creates a ball   
   of somewhat self-sustaining plasma around a spaccraft using more   
   or less available technologu that could extend out to kilometers.   
   The plasma ball acts like the fluff on some wind-blown seeds   
   and just gets blown outward from the sun by the stream of charged   
   particles. Acceleration is of course small, but accumulates quickly.   
      
   As present there is no way to slow down and it's proposed the   
   Jupiter mission could use nuclear-powered rockets to brake.   
      
   The reason I'm putting this here is the calculated speed of the   
   Wind Rider is very similar to the calculations I made from   
   the UFO sighting data versus planetary positions over the last 150y.   
      
   While the rise and fall of some fraction of UFO sightings is   
   consistent with constant-velocity journeys from e.g. Neptune   
   at a const ~450 km/sec, the speeds for the Wave Rider are theoretically:   
      
   Earth-Jupiter	3-4 wks   
   Earth-Saturn	6 wks   
   Earth-Neptune	18 wks   
      
   It's also just possible to launch an interstellar probe with the idea   
   provided the accelaration happens in the inner solar system.   
   It's expected a probe could leave the solar system around 300 km/sec --   
   5x+ faster than the Voyagers.   
      
   But the top speed for planetary trips is claimed to be 450-600 km/sec,   
   smack in the middle of the ranges I've previously calculated for   
   the UFO models.   
      
   Of course the Wave Rider can not fly INTO the solar system. As I   
   mentioned above, it can't even brake (by itself) when it reaches   
   a target inside the solar system.   
      
   But it might give some clue as to what kind of techn could be   
   responsible for brigking some kind of spacecraft from (say)   
   the outer planets to the inner system at a rate of ~500 km/sec.   
      
      
   --   
   This New Deep Space Propulsion System Rides Like A Leaf on the Solar Wind   
   The Debrief, 20 Oct 2021   
   Wind Rider, also called a Plasma Magnet, is a solar wind catching sail   
   that can reach the outer solar system quickly without chemical fuel.   
   [Jupiter 3-4 wks; Saturn 6 wks; Neptune 18 wks.  Interstellar probes   
   could leave the solar system at 300 km/sec].   
      
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_magnet   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)