"A voyage of 100,000 years"

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
Oh yeah, that nasty little Tau factor comes into play once you start getting into relativistic speeds. But the main problem is fuel, fuel, fuel.

Use a ramjet, you will have practically unlimited fuel.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Sava
Big Crunch: I saw a special on TLC about using Magnetic Fields... these guys levitated a spider in a machine about the size of a small stadium

Holy crap where did they find a spider the size of a small stadium from?

[Sava]

I'm gonna reach through this internet and smack u UR

[faded glory]

Speed of Light, 4.3 years to get AC.

Using Solar sails and lazer sails propulsion it would take 100 years to reach alpha centari.

Wached a show very similiar on TLC



Basically a big laser behind the sail propels it forward.

Using controlled Nuclear propolsion in deep space will take 20,000 years.

Im think it would be more fruitful to investigate and colonize our own solar system

[faded glory]

FYI the Pioneer is further out than the Voyager and is traveling faster towards a nearby star than the voyager. It is pretty far out..of the solar system, Its passed pluto in the early 90's already they only recieve a weak signal from it once every 6 months

[faded glory]

the Soviets have one out there too.

I mean Russians.

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


Use a ramjet, you will have practically unlimited fuel.

I think that someone did the calculations on this and determined that it wouldn't supply enough power.

[Sava]

FG: Do you mean the laser would be on the craft? That would violate one of the Laws of Motion.

[DanS]

Isaac Asimov had a goog article about all of the methods and speeds, etc. 40 or so years ago.

His conclusion was that we could probably only go 1/10th the speed of light at the maximum and would take maybe 50 years to get to the closest star.

Beyond what Asimov discussed, if you were to assume that faster-than-light travel and communication is impossible, but cryogenics possible, then you get a very interesting migration pattern galaxy-wide. Because of the vast distances involved, you would have to rely on the natural spiral-shaped contours of the galaxy. Also, you would have to stake out your territory not knowing whether a world would already be colonized once you got there.

[faded glory]

No it wouldnt. it would be in deep space at a distance from the sail feeding it when it slowed down.

and i dont know anything about the LOM. Please explain why a laser couldnt be attached to the sail/trailing it ?

[Sava]

oh I see...

FG: It would be like putting a fan on a sailing ship. The amount of energy required for propulsion acts in the opposite direction... i.e. recoil from a gun, etc

[faded glory]

I just wish all this happened in my lifetime. I know one day Man will dominate the stars, and any subspecies therein....its only a matter of time. Our nature is advancement, expansion, and conquest.

[faded glory]

oh ok. Now that makes sense. Lasers have recoil? Oh and I thought all it would take was a 3 second blast every couple of months to keep things moving.

anyway. Your probably right

[Sava]

I think, eventually, if that does happen, the difference in environment, gravity, and vast distances will cause humans to evolve in different directions. Perhaps one day, a future race of beings will be searching for their planet of origin and for the forgotten human race which is the link between them all. Interesting stuff. I read an Asimov novel with that premise.

[Sava]

Originally posted by faded glory
oh ok. Now that makes sense. Lasers have recoil? Oh and I thought all it would take was a 3 second blast every couple of months to keep things moving.

anyway. Your probably right

heheh you shouldn't listen to me, I'm a dumbass

Anyways, I'm not sure how the whole laser thing would work. A laser that would have enough power necessary to propel such a ship would probably be very big and require a lot of power. Who knows how it would behave.