Why We Need to Reach the Stars (and We Will)

[chvvkumar]

Gizmodo got a really good article! For once I have read something on there that truly made me think

I am quoting the starting 2-3 paragraphs here read the rest on the site...

http://gizmodo.com/5247705/why-we-ne...rs-and-we-will

We reached the Moon in a tin can, built a humble space station, and have a plan to reach Mars in a bigger tin can. But we need to reach the stars. And we will.

Yes, I know what you are thinking: "It's impossible."

And right now, you are right. Our current propulsion engines are, simply put, pathetic. We are still in the Stone Age of space travel. As cool as they are, rocket engines—which eject gas at high speeds through a nozzle on the back of a spacecraft—are extremely inefficient, requiring huge volumes of fuel that runs out faster than you can say "Beam me up, Scotty."

We have cleared the tower

Solid boosters, hybrid, monopropellant, bipropellant rockets... all these would be impossible to use in interstellar travel, with maximum speeds going up to a maximum of 9 kilometers per second. Rockets won't work even using the effect of planetary gravity to gain impulse. Voyager—the fastest man-made spacecraft out there racing at 17 kilometers per second—would need 74,000 years in deep space to reach Proxima Centauri, the red dwarf star located at 4.22 light-years in the Alpha Centauri system, the closest to our Sun.

But even if we were able to build a massive spacecraft with today's experimental—but feasible—propulsion technology, it will still take thousand of years to reach Alpha Centauri. Using nuclear explosions—like the ones proposed in the Orion project—would be more efficient than rockets, achieving a maximum of 60 kilometers per second. That's still a whopping 21,849 years and a couple months.

Using ion thrusters—which use electrostatic or electromagnetic force to accelerate ions that in turn push the spacecraft forward—would only reduce that amount marginally. Even theoretical technology—like nuclear pulse propulsion, with speeds up to 15,000 kilometers per second—won't cut it. And that's assuming we can find a way for these engines to last all that time. And let's not even get into the resources and engineering needed to create a vessel capable of sustaining life for such a long period of time.

All to reach a stupid red dwarf with no planets to explore. We may as well not go, really. You know, let's just save Earth from our own destruction and colonize Mars or Titan or Europa (if the aliens let us do that.)

Our ignorance is our only hope

It gets even worse. Our current understanding of physics—which says that nothing can travel faster than light—basically establishes that we will never be able to achieve space travel in a way that is meaningful to Humanity. In other words, even if we are able to discover a propulsion method that could get a spacecraft close to the speed of light, it will still take hundred of years to reach an star system with planets similar to Earth. By the time the news get back to us, we all will be dead.

And that's precisely the key to our only hope to reach the stars: Our ignorance. As much as we have advanced, we are still clueless about many things. Physicists are still struggling to understand the Universe, discovering new stellar events that we can't explain, and trying to make sense of it all, looking for that perfect theory that will make everything fit together.

That fact is that, since we don't know how everything works, there still may be something that opens the way to faster-than-light space travel. Discovering the unknown—like physicists have been doing since the Greeks—and harnessing new math and theories into new technology is our only way to spread through the Universe in a way that makes sense to Humanity as a whole. You know, like Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica or Star Wars.

[Hercules286]

What a crock of shit.

[jayhawk]

What we need is the Rakatan Infinite Empire.

The Rakata rose to new heights when, in approximately 49,000 BBY, they successfully combined the power of the Force with advanced technology, creating wondrous effects that seemed, to them, to border on the mystical. Due to this achievement, they used their technology to explore space. However, when they found civilizations less advanced than themselves, they conquered and enslaved them rather than benevolently aid their advancement, thus turning to the Dark Side. The Infinite Empire, officially established in 35,000 BBY, dominated pockets of the galaxy for almost ten thousand years and enslaved numerous developing species including the Duros, Kumumgah, Selkath, and Humans. At its height, it consisted of more than 500 enslaved-subject worlds with a population of ten billion Rakata and one trillion slaves.

Speaking of Star Wars, I have always believed if that we can think it up, it can be done. For example, the lightsaber. It can be made; granted, it would need to be directly plugged into a nuclear reactor, but it can be made! Just think 50 years ago, computers ran on tubes and whispered prayers, then came transistors then micro chips. We are making astonishingly fast progress in technology year by year.

[BlaRo]

Well, that was a depressing article.

But still, there's always stuff that nobody thinks up of at the time. Hell, Back to the Future II still had pay phones because nobody thought we'd all be talking on RAZRs instead of putting in quarters.

[jayhawk]

Originally Posted by BlaRo

Well, that was a depressing article.

No, it isn't. I know most of you are a bit allergic to religion, but if God wanted us to sit around and praise his existence all day, we would have small brains and big butts. Instead, we have brains with enormous, dare I say, infinite capacity and free will.
Take for example Einstein; he applied a little more of his brain matter and you have seen his ideas come to fruition. Look where we have come in the past 150 years, versus 150 years before that. Only 40 years ago we landed on the moon; to me that is just mind blowing.

[FATMOUSE]

Payphones will still exist in 2015, probably. For those whose batteries ran out.

[nate_bartlet]

reminds me of 2 quotes one from the west wing...
Sam Seaborn: There are lots of hungry people in the world, Mall, and none of them are hungry because we went to the moon. None of them are colder and certainly none of them are dumber because we went to the moon.
Mallory O'Brian: And we went to the moon. Do we really have to go to Mars?
Sam Seaborn: Yes.
Mallory O'Brian: Why?
Sam Seaborn: Because it's next. Because we came out of the cave, and we looked over the hill and we saw fire; and we crossed the ocean and we pioneered the west, and we took to the sky. The history of man is on a timeline of explorations and this is What's next.

and another from babylon 5 which i think sums it up perfectly.
Mary Ann Cramer: I have to ask you the same question people back home are asking about space these days. Is it worth it? Should we just pull back? Forget the whole thing as a bad idea, and take care of our own problems, at home.
Cmdr. Jeffrey Sinclair: No. We have to stay here. And there's a simple reason why. Ask ten different scientists about the environment, population control, genetics, and you'll get ten different answers, but there's one thing every scientist on the planet agrees on. Whether it happens in a hundred years or a thousand years or a million years, eventually our Sun will grow cold and go out. When that happens, it won't just take us. It'll take Marilyn Monroe, and Lao-Tzu, and Einstein, and Morobuto, and Buddy Holly, and Aristophanes, and - all of this - all of this - was for nothing. Unless we go to the stars.

[chaos386]

Originally Posted by BlaRo

Well, that was a depressing article.

I found it quite inspiring, actually. The goal so very very far away, but it's not so bad because the journey is more important than the destination.

Also, whenever I think about space travel, I'm reminded of the fact that our solar system lies on the outer edge of the galaxy. The boonies. I like to think that near the center of the galaxy, where the distances between stars are shorter, intelligent civilizations sprang up close enough to each other to have feasible communication with each other via radio waves, and possible travel via chemical rockets (I'm guessing if you *knew* intelligent life was out there, you'd be much more willing to spend years traveling to it). I also imagine that such communication would have led to a quicker advancement of technology and space flight, ultimately leading to the hustle and bustle of many ships zipping between the stars, carrying goods and travelers. In my mind, I envision it as a sophisticated, cosmopolitan city to our little town of Ignorant Hicksville. I realize I'm being grossly optimistic here, but I don't care.

I wish I could see such a thing in my lifetime, but I guess that's what science fiction stories are for, at least for now.

[chvvkumar]

The article is both depressing and inspiring at the same time.

Here is my take on why:

It is Depressing because it is similar to how you feel if you were stuck in the middle ages and know what waits in the 21st century. Except that you don't KNOW what lies in the future but you are pretty sure it would be orders of magnitude advanced (unless we manage to go extinct before that happened).

Due to the same reason as it is depressing, it is really inspiring because that future is for ours to make and create. We live in the best time in the whole human time line where we can properly employ our brains and use it as a spring board to furthur advancement and improving ourselves in the process.


The metaphorical 'cutting edge' of tech is not standing by itself all alone. You need the metaphorical bulk of the knife to drive the edge forward. As the edge drives forward, it opens up new avenues for the rest of the body.

What do you think?

[Dogbert]

Originally Posted by jayhawk

if God wanted us to sit around and praise his existence all day, we would have small brains and big butts. Instead, we have brains with enormous, dare I say, infinite capacity and free will.

And big butts.

[Goose+]

I can't help but wonder that if NASA and all the other guys diverted their attention and finances away from outer-space and towards finding a cure for cancer or improving battery technology we would be a lot better off.

It just seems strange to me that America spends so much on space when there's 50 million people on your doorstep with no medical insurance.

[chaos386]

Originally Posted by Goose+

I can't help but wonder that if NASA and all the other guys diverted their attention and finances away from outer-space and towards finding a cure for cancer or improving battery technology we would be a lot better off.

Scientists are largely idealists who go into their field of research because it interests them. If you try to force a scientist to do cancer research when they don't want to, they're not going to be very productive. Also, advances made while trying to improve spaceflight often benefit other fields at the same time, including medicine and batteries.

[SpitfireMK461]

Originally Posted by Goose+

I can't help but wonder that if NASA and all the other guys diverted their attention and finances away from outer-space and towards finding a cure for cancer or improving battery technology we would be a lot better off.

It just seems strange to me that America spends so much on space when there's 50 million people on your doorstep with no medical insurance.

The list advances in technology, even medical, due to our space program is immense. To note a big one, you can thank the Hubble Telescope for the modern mammogram.

The amount the U.S. spends on the space program isn't much compared to how much NASA actually does. NASA's budget currently accounts for about 0.5% of the federal budget. During Apollo, this peaked at 5.5%

To requote from above, "There are lots of hungry people in the world, Mall, and none of them are hungry because we went to the moon. None of them are colder and certainly none of them are dumber because we went to the moon."

[epp_b]

I can't help but wonder that if NASA and all the other guys diverted their attention and finances away from outer-space and towards finding a cure for cancer or improving battery technology we would be a lot better off.

WRONG ANSWER

People do things that interest them. If you force someone do something they're not interested in doing because you think it's a better use of resources, they're productivity level will plummet and we'll be no better off.

Science done for the sake of science has had many indirect benefits from its results.

[Red_Bull]

Originally Posted by jayhawk

No, it isn't. I know most of you are a bit allergic to religion, but if God wanted us to sit around and praise his existence all day, we would have small brains and big butts. Instead, we have brains with enormous, dare I say, infinite capacity and free will.

I dunno, he was kinda pissed when Eve ate into that apple of knowledge...

[motogpboy]

Am I the only one who got the 2010/2061 odyssey reference?