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Proxima Centauri in 25 years

That rings a bell with what I vaguely remember from the Asimov essay. Something like "Ou-ran-us" but i'm probably messing it up. I can barely get my own name right. I'll check it later.
 
I found the essay. Asimov's essay "The Unmentionable Planet" can be found in a few publications. I have it in his book, "The Relativity of Wrong: Essays on Science", 1988.

I'll quote a few facts from him.

"... there was an element that had, upon its discovery, been named "uranium" for the then newly discovered planet Uranus and it was pronounced "yoo-RAY-nee-um". It seemed to me obvious, therefore, that the name of the planet was pronounced "you-RAY-nus" ... As it happens, though, Uranus pronounced "YOO-rih-nus" (he claims this is the dictionary pronounciation) isn't much better, for it is homonymous with "urinous" meaning "to have the appearance, properties or odor of urine". ...

He then goes on to suggest that it would be better to use the Greek version of the name Ouranos (pronounced "OO-rih-nus") or with a short "a" (Yoo-Ran-us).

He then says, "Since these suggestions are sensible ones, they will never be adopted" and so far he was right.
 
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LOL with its stinky clouds and dubious name / rep Uranus would be the perfect hiding spot for Aliens.

Because it's always aliens :D
 
Had a strange sequence of events happen a couple of weeks back. I was doing a little bit of research about TMP. Found that Charlotte Lewis had been in the running to play Ilia. Next, I read about her allegations against Roman Polanski. Then had one of those weird little 'taps on the shoulder' that come out of nowhere. The thought was, look up Gerard Depardieu. Okay. Found that he was in a film with Polanski called 'A Pure Formality'. Watched that film. Neat little existentialist-type story that I liked better than most people did who reviewed it. Turns out that the main character was born on February 3rd. Next morning, I was sitting quietly after breakfast and all of a sudden had this whole scenario run through my mind about this kid who gets accidentally bombarded by very loud classical music that causes him to pass out and when he regains consciousness he draws a schematic of something called the Mendelssohn Star Drive which is based on electromagnetism and resonance. I look up Felix Mendelssohn and find that he was born on February 3rd. I look up resonance and the first thing returned is a story about the EM-drive.

:shrug:
 
That is very interesting and spooky too. But, I'm wondering if you intended this for another thread? I don't see the connection with the unmentionable planet or Proxima Centauri.

Or, maybe you just know it belongs here, but the connection has not become clear yet?

Oh, I get it now. The star drive. Wow, that is strange.
 
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I think the name "Ouranos" was to be a good altenate spelling.

XCV330 said:
To summarize, Tajmar was loaned a MEGAdrive thruster by Woodward with specific instructions on how to use it. Tajmar's team fried it (the piezo crystals were not driven properly), had it on a test rig designed for a much bulkier device and did not have it set up properly.

Woodward further shows from their own test rig when the unit was returned, it showed signs of thermal damage, but was tested and still showed a small sign of thrust but not as much as before. I cant say anything about the emdrive tests, as I am not remotely convinced the emdrive works, but the Mach affect thrusters seem to have been tested sloppily as an afterthought.
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Some hope?
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2018/...ils-incorrectly-performed-by-tajmar-team.html

I'm hearing a lot about a dipole drive:
www.centauri-dreams.org/2018/06/29/the-dipole-drive-a-new-concept-for-space-propulsion/

Then I remembered these two articles:
www.spacedaily.com/reports/The_true_power_of_the_solar_wind_999.html
www.newscientist.com/article/mg22630235-400-spacecraft-built-from-graphene-could-run-on-nothing-but-sunlight/

Could there be a sacrificial sail, Tsander style--the sail itself being a propellant....

Tsander's dream of a self eating rocket itself looks to be progressing
https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/abs/10.2514/1.A34153?journalCode=jsr&
 
I hope that someone will detect a rogue planet that is closer than Proxima.

If a rogue planet was found at only a fraction of the distance, it might be the one exoplanet within reach during the 22nd century.
 
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I don't think that this goblin is very well suited to house human life.. also would probably suck as holiday destination.. :shifty:
 
Wouldn't it be strange if there are planets orbiting the outer edge of our solar system that we haven't even detected yet that may orbit on an axis we haven't checked yet?
 
Tetragillis said:
Wouldn't it be strange if there are planets orbiting the outer edge of our solar system that we haven't even detected yet that may orbit on an axis we haven't checked yet?
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When I was a kid, I'd often thought that the nice neat "orbit platter" of planets presented in diagrams was just for convenience and that they actually orbit on other planes from each other. They don't. It's all one big "platter" like rings around Saturn. As to why... must be something to do with gravitation, and how "each one follows the other" in that respect. If there were to be other orbital planes out there, it would then complicate things tremendously, because planets could actually either collide with each other or come close enough to disrupt orbital paths due to gravitational interference. And that in turn would result in highly chaotic shifts in atmospheric conditions for affected planets. Not good!
 
Gory Sever said:
When I was a kid, I'd often thought that the nice neat "orbit platter" of planets presented in diagrams was just for convenience and that they actually orbit on other planes from each other. They don't. It's all one big "platter" like rings around Saturn. As to why... must be something to do with gravitation, and how "each one follows the other" in that respect. If there were to be other orbital planes out there, it would then complicate things tremendously, because planets could actually either collide with each other or come close enough to disrupt orbital paths due to gravitational interference. And that in turn would result in highly chaotic shifts in atmospheric conditions for affected planets. Not good!
Click to expand...


Not good but "interesting"
 
Tetragillis said:
Not good but "interesting"
Click to expand...
From what I understand, current theory is that most planets form from an accretion disk early in a star's own formation, dust and gas coalescing into planets on a consistent plane.

It's not impossible to have orbits at other inclinations, for instance comets which form far out beyond the normal area we think of as the solar system, the Oort cloud, come in at high inclinations, in highly elliptical orbit off the equatorial orbital plane. You see this in ring systems as well. you don't always see it with moons because moons often seem to be captured gravitationally by planets as they clear their orbit of other bodies (part of the current IAU definition of a planet) . Pluto is not on the orbital plane, which is a good sign that its origin is a bit different from the regular 8 planets that formed along the accretion disk. It's a large Trans-neptunian object with its own orbit influenced by Neptune. It's not impossible to orbit the sun in a polar orbit, either, though I don't know anything beyond a couple of probes have been shown to do that.
 
AIMstar might pan out one day
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIMStar

I know a lot of folks hate on SLS--but it uses hydrogen/oxygen infrastructure, which will be the basis for LockMart's Moon and Mars basecamp landers.

From the booklet:

Interstellar Explorer

Mission Objective: Significantly reduce mission travel time and deliver a spacecraft to interstellar space, out to 400 AU.
Mission Rationale: The starship enables exploration of the outer solar system and its origins, investigation of the interstellar medium influence on the solar system, and the characterization of interstellar gas, low-energy cosmic rays, dust and magnetic fields.

SLS Capabilities: SLS greatly shortens interstellar travel time, reaching 200 AU in about 15 years with a maximum speed of 63 km/sec—13.3 AU per year (Neptune orbits the sun at an approximate distance of 30 AU). The use of a Boeing 702SP eliminates technology development required for earlier mission designs.

https://www.info-quest.org/documents/PDF/Boeing_SLS_BOOKLET.pdf
 
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