STARSAIL
Princeton University Art & Archaeology Senior Thesis Research Project
A CONCEPTUAL FAR-FUTURE BIOSHIP ART PROJECT
A technological dandelion seed in the cosmic wind, StarSail is an art prototype that will store the sum of humanity's knowledge—and information about Earth—in light. With artificial general intelligence for a mind, self-healing body, and adaptable form, StarSail can travel vast interstellar distances to terraform new worlds.
I fear not the vast distances ahead of me.
THE ORIGAMI MAGNETO-INTERTIAL FUSION THRUSTER (OMIFT)
Building on Helion’s magneto-intertial fusion design, the OMIFT layers two Miura-Ori folds on top of each other to create two. pairs of chambers. The magenta circles represent plasma, and the central dot represents the site of the fusion reactions.
Firing in succession, we can fuse Deuterium and Helium-3 together to create the energy we need for thrust. The magenta dots in the image above represent the sites of fusion reactions.
When fuel is abundant, the StarSail uses the OMIFT to travel (left). When fuel is scarce, StarSail deploys the Miura-Ori folds as solar sails to use photons as a propellant (right).
Using origami, we can give new form, rigidity, and adaptability to flat surfaces like paper. Spheres, tori, and other shapes can come from tessellation folds.
TORUS HULL PROTOTYPE 01
TORUS HULL PROTOTYPE 02
ARTIFICIAL GENERAL INTELLIGENCE COMMAND CENTER PAPER SPHERE PROTOTYPE 01
TORUS HULL PROTOTYPE 03
PHYSICAL DATA STORAGE THROUGH LIGHT
StarSail's Origami Magneto-Inertial Fusion Thruster (OMIFT) uses Miura-ori folded petals to store information in light.
Photons having no mass may be beneficial for carrying information great distances beyond Earth, where each ounce requires consideration.
I created the test on the left by projecting a video on a large sheet of Miura-ori.
StarSail: Bioship With an Origami Magneto-Inertial Fusion Thruster (OMIFT)
Digital Illustration, 4320 × 7680 pixels, 2024 (ongoing)
StarSail is an art prototype of a future interstellar spaceship with artificial general intelligence for a mind, a self-healing body, and an Origami Magneto-Inertial Fusion Thruster (OMIFT), which can create fusion reactions with Deuterium and Helium-3 or expand as a solar sail to use sunlight as fuel. The Miura-ori folds store data in light using principles from quantum computing, enabling StarSail to encode information to terraform exoplanets, restarting human civilization on new worlds.
StarSail’s form draws inspiration from Arrival, umbrellas, and jellyfish. Considering swarm behavior, biomimicry, and emergent properties like intelligence, StarSail may deliver information to new stars more successfully as a fleet.
I intend for the final StarSail to be a 6-foot-tall paper origami spaceship hung from a moving track on the ceiling. StarSail will be the centerpiece of my senior exhibition Immortality.