Maybe it's like the cup in the giant statue of Arthur Dent Throwing the Nutrimatic Cup -- it's held up by Art.
I say it's like that "standing water spigot" displays you see at Home Shows. There's a hidden inside pipe the water flows back up through.
J
Jetfire
Guest
So we got...
Proxima Centauri + A & B Distance: 4.2 LY
Rigil Kentaurus Distance: 4.3 LY
Barnard's Star??? Distance: 5.9 LY
What!?
Barnard's Star has to be renamed!
Wolf 359!?!? Distance: 7.7 LY
Wolf!?
Lalande 21185 Distance: 8.26 LY
Guessing none of these are ideal?
Proxima Centauri + A & B Distance: 4.2 LY
Rigil Kentaurus Distance: 4.3 LY
Barnard's Star??? Distance: 5.9 LY
What!?
Barnard's Star has to be renamed!
Wolf 359!?!? Distance: 7.7 LY
Wolf!?
Lalande 21185 Distance: 8.26 LY
Guessing none of these are ideal?
No, Rigil Kentaurus is an alternate name for Alpha Centauri. They're the same system. Proxima is more properly Alpha Centauri C, and is 4.24 ly away. Alp Cen A/B is 4.37 ly away.
Barnard's Star??? Distance: 5.9 LY
What!?
Barnard's Star has to be renamed!
Why would you say that? There's nothing wrong with the name as far as I'm aware. And it's not as if it's lacking for alternate designations:
Take your pick.
The 359th star in the catalog of high-proper-motion stars published by German astronomer Max Wolf in 1917. There are a thousand stars in the catalog, but Wolf 359 is best-known, since as the third-closest star system to Earth, it gets used often in science fiction, most prominently ST:TNG.
Lalande 21185 Distance: 8.26 LY
Guessing none of these are ideal?
Ideal for what? Sending a probe to? Given their proximity, they're all good candidates for that.
J
Jetfire
Guest
^
Rigil Kentaurus didn't have "is also known as Alpha Centauri" next to it...I blame the site I was looking at...possibly my lack of knowledge of astronomy and the drinking.
I still don't like the name Barnard's Star...but thanks for the info.
They may be good candidates but do we know if they have planets around them?
Rigil Kentaurus didn't have "is also known as Alpha Centauri" next to it...I blame the site I was looking at...possibly my lack of knowledge of astronomy and the drinking.
I still don't like the name Barnard's Star...but thanks for the info.
They may be good candidates but do we know if they have planets around them?
^
Rigil Kentaurus didn't have "is also known as Alpha Centauri" next to it...I blame the site I was looking at...possibly my lack of knowledge of astronomy and the drinking.
I still don't like the name Barnard's Star...but thanks for the info.
They may be good candidates but do we know if they have planets around them?
None have been detected yet. As I remarked above, there are several ongoing efforts to detect exoplanets around Alpha Centauri's stars, and we'll probably have an answer within a year or two. (It takes time to confirm a possible detection since you need to wait for the planet to complete more than one orbit, which could take around a year if you're looking for a planet in an Earthlike orbit around a Sunlike star.)
Some measurements in the '60s suggested a possible gas giant planet around Barnard's Star, but they were later refuted. Otherwise, we don't know enough yet to rule out the possibility of smaller planets around any of the stars you listed. The nearest known exoplanet candidates orbit Epsilon Eridani, 10.5 ly away.
To the OP, I personally like the idea of a craft with a hybrid power source of both ion engines, and a laser/solar sail.
I might become very unpopular with this but I nevertheless have to say it:
A laser-sail is a very good idea (once the required technology is in place) for a civilization that has time to let an extremely power-hungry laser point into empty space for years and years... I, however, find it difficult to imagine a civilization that won't even give it's president more than two years to rectify the mistakes made the previous eight (or is it sixteen?) years making such a commitment.
And, who else do we have? the Chinese?
A laser-sail is a very good idea (once the required technology is in place) for a civilization that has time to let an extremely power-hungry laser point into empty space for years and years... I, however, find it difficult to imagine a civilization that won't even give it's president more than two years to rectify the mistakes made the previous eight (or is it sixteen?) years making such a commitment.
And, who else do we have? the Chinese?
^
So it's also George W. Bush's fault we can't go to Alpha Centauri now...
Wow.
So it's also George W. Bush's fault we can't go to Alpha Centauri now...
Wow.
^
So it's also George W. Bush's fault we can't go to Alpha Centauri now...
Wow.
If only they had oil instead of unobatinium!
^
So it's also George W. Bush's fault we can't go to Alpha Centauri now...
Wow.
Wow, I failed to find a reference to Bush in the above posts.
It's more a fault of the 4 year cycle our political system works in.
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It's more to do with our culture's general short attention span. We don't tend to think in terms of starting projects whose payoff we won't live to see.
Although I think we might be able to get lightweight probes up to around 90% of the speed of light eventually, I have serious doubts about manned interstellar flight that exceeds speeds of say 10% the speed of light. Aside from the prohibitive costs, it's also about the fuel/cargo ratio. As far as I'm aware, for even a small amount of cargo your going to need a sh*t load of fuel.
The process of actually getting colonists there would be long, expensive and extremely dangerous. First of all you need to send a probe to Alpha Centauri, so early models of interstellar probes will probably take between 100-40 years to get there, then four years to send back the data. I doubt that we could get our first interstellar probe to land on an extrasolar planet once it get's there, it would probably need to send back precise telemetry about the planets exact orbit. Then we would need to send a second probe, hopefully to land on the planet this time and send back data about the surface conditions. Then you need to find a small group of people willing to spend 40 years in space onboard a cramped spacecraft (or in suspended animation if we can invent it) with a very real risk of death.
The most disappointing prospect would be mechanical failure. Imagine if your probe, on the 60th year of it's journey and just three years away from Alpha Centauri, breaks down. You have just wasted 60 years and you'll have to start again from square one. There are just so many things that could go wrong.
The process of actually getting colonists there would be long, expensive and extremely dangerous. First of all you need to send a probe to Alpha Centauri, so early models of interstellar probes will probably take between 100-40 years to get there, then four years to send back the data. I doubt that we could get our first interstellar probe to land on an extrasolar planet once it get's there, it would probably need to send back precise telemetry about the planets exact orbit. Then we would need to send a second probe, hopefully to land on the planet this time and send back data about the surface conditions. Then you need to find a small group of people willing to spend 40 years in space onboard a cramped spacecraft (or in suspended animation if we can invent it) with a very real risk of death.
The most disappointing prospect would be mechanical failure. Imagine if your probe, on the 60th year of it's journey and just three years away from Alpha Centauri, breaks down. You have just wasted 60 years and you'll have to start again from square one. There are just so many things that could go wrong.
J
Jetfire
Guest
^
Alot of that is covered in this 2008 article. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23594045/ and http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/080313-tw-centauri-travel.html
We need a warp drive!
Alot of that is covered in this 2008 article. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23594045/ and http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/080313-tw-centauri-travel.html
We need a warp drive!
But you know what? I think it's that short attention span and short lifespan that will spur us to create much much faster drive systems.
I disagree tremendously.
Look at these examples:
The first manned flight to the moon (took a decade)
The LHC - (took about 7 years)
Fusion research - (ongoing for decades)
The ISS (Took decades)
Scaled Composites partnership with Virgin Galactic (still not done - taken about 8-10 years SO FAR)
I could go on.
