Thread: First Planet in Habitable Zone Confirmed

Originally Posted by Alric

I just can't wait until we are able to actually get to other planet and go see ourself. I am really hoping that we advance medice quick enough that people will have vastly larger life spans, so that it is possible.

We also need a fuel source to travel 600 light years, and be able to travel near (or beyond) the speed of light while keeping said people alive and sustained for that many years... the ship itself would take such huge quantities of resources for fuel, living requirements, etc...

I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's highly improbable without resources (plus China is stockpiling all of the precious metals they can to be used for energy production, solar cells, wind turbines, etc.) It would be a neat idea, though.

Originally Posted by ThePreserver

We also need a fuel source to travel 600 light years, and be able to travel near (or beyond) the speed of light while keeping said people alive and sustained for that many years... the ship itself would take such huge quantities of resources for fuel, living requirements, etc...

> Implying you need to apply a force for constant velocity
> In 2011

I seriously hope you guys don't do this.

Well the two ways that I see it as being possible would be either freezing yourself, or you upload your mind into a computer. Obviously both takes technology we don't have. However if a person became a robot or uploaded their mind into a computer or something of that nature, they could turn themself off and use no energy and then turn themself back on when they reach the destination. Or if we prefected cryonics you could freeze yourself, and space is cold enough that you don't need power to remain frozen, then when you arrive you could unfreeze yourself.

The cryonics approach is probably easier technology wise. Of course finding a way to bend space for faster than light travel is a much nicer way to travel. Either way, I don't think it will happen in my life time unless they drasticlly increase human life spans within my life time. Then my life time might be far longer and it may be possible. Which is my hope.

Originally Posted by Xei

> Implying you need to apply a force for constant velocity
> In 2011

I seriously hope you guys don't do this.

Fuel as in energy... for which to keep systems aboard the ship running... I presume you cannot use solar power, since you'd be traveling outside of star systems...

Originally Posted by Sornaensis

One more: Recycling!

Also... the value of recycling is much lost upon people... they think it works... it doesn't (unless you design the product to BE recycled.)

Take, for example, the humble aluminum can; the paint and lining do not recycle, yet they are mashed and melted and molded with the aluminum, causing it to lose purity. You can't RE-cycle it, you have to DOWN-cycle it, and use it for a lower-grade product. Unless people start designing products to BE recycled, it won't save the planet. We seem to forget Recycle's two best friends, Reduce and Reuse.

(See book: Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the way we make things.)

Why is everyone talkin bout ships? We have stargates.

Originally Posted by ThePreserver

Fuel as in energy... for which to keep systems aboard the ship running... I presume you cannot use solar power, since you'd be traveling outside of star systems...



Also... the value of recycling is much lost upon people... they think it works... it doesn't (unless you design the product to BE recycled.)

Take, for example, the humble aluminum can; the paint and lining do not recycle, yet they are mashed and melted and molded with the aluminum, causing it to lose purity. You can't RE-cycle it, you have to DOWN-cycle it, and use it for a lower-grade product. Unless people start designing products to BE recycled, it won't save the planet. We seem to forget Recycle's two best friends, Reduce and Reuse.

(See book: Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the way we make things.)

What?

On a generation ship, everything would be built to be recycled. Meaning you aren't sitting on a million tons of rations that will be depleted. The ship simply becomes a miniature earth for a few hundred years.

Originally Posted by Sornaensis

What?

On a generation ship, everything would be built to be recycled. Meaning you aren't sitting on a million tons of rations that will be depleted. The ship simply becomes a miniature earth for a few hundred years.

AH, you meant for the ship itself. (I also suspect people wouldn't be mindless consumers aboard a generation ship, too. That would defeat the ship's ability to sustain life for that long.)

But still, fuel for a power source would be required, I'd assume nuclear power, but then again you need all of the resources to BUILD a ship with such an expanse and GET the pieces into outer space (that would take countless launches before assembly.) It's such a massive project we may not have sufficient resources on earth to accomplish it!

Originally Posted by ThePreserver

AH, you meant for the ship itself. (I also suspect people wouldn't be mindless consumers aboard a generation ship, too. That would defeat the ship's ability to sustain life for that long.)

But still, fuel for a power source would be required, I'd assume nuclear power, but then again you need all of the resources to BUILD a ship with such an expanse and GET the pieces into outer space (that would take countless launches before assembly.) It's such a massive project we may not have sufficient resources on earth to accomplish it!

It's theoretically possible we could first mine resources from other planets in our solar system. If they have any useful ones.

Originally Posted by khh

It's theoretically possible we could first mine resources from other planets in our solar system. If they have any useful ones.

This is true, but then we need to use resources and launch fuel to get mining equipment on a large enough scale to build such a ship! And then you have to launch THOSE resources off of other planets somehow...

Originally Posted by ThePreserver

We also need a fuel source to travel 600 light years, and be able to travel near (or beyond) the speed of light while keeping said people alive and sustained for that many years... the ship itself would take such huge quantities of resources for fuel, living requirements, etc...

I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's highly improbable without resources (plus China is stockpiling all of the precious metals they can to be used for energy production, solar cells, wind turbines, etc.) It would be a neat idea, though.

There are alternatives. Bussard ramjet, laser proulsion, anti-matter catalyzed fusion.

Originally Posted by ThePreserver

We also need a fuel source to travel 600 light years, and be able to travel near (or beyond) the speed of light while keeping said people alive and sustained for that many years... the ship itself would take such huge quantities of resources for fuel, living requirements, etc...

I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's highly improbable without resources (plus China is stockpiling all of the precious metals they can to be used for energy production, solar cells, wind turbines, etc.) It would be a neat idea, though.

Project Daedalus estimated in the late 20th century that it would take a minimum of 50-100 years at ~10% of the speed of light to reach the furthest possible star system (15 light years). Not to mention the design for the fusion-powered plasma jet was about 4 times the size of the empire state building.

Good luck wit dat 600 light years.