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FrozenGate by Avery

Space Discussion Thread

Food for thought for believers and non-believers, religious and nonreligious.

Just watched "The Search for Life: The Drake Equation" on Netflix (couldn't find it on YouTube - looks like it was posted then pulled). Basic premise is there are many, many planets out there (10,000s) with detectable signs of life - we just have to look. Eventually SETI was born.

A counter argument is the Fermi Paradox which essentially asks "Then where is everyone?".

Lots of stuff on each out there. Here are a couple short samples to get a taste.



@Alaskan - A Sphinx Kitten that just found out it's a Sphinx Kitten.

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As far as what Alaskan has said, what do you think the of the chances of aliens if they ever found our probe "I think one of the Vikings" with the plaque picturing a man and a woman and pointing out the 3rd planet from its star and a record of with recordings of different earth sounds and being able to understand it?
 
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GSS said:
As far as what Alaskan has said, what do you think the of the chances of aliens if they ever found our probe "I think one of the Vikings" with the plaque picturing a man and a woman and pointing out the 3rd planet from its star and a record of with recordings of different earth sounds and being able to understand it?
Click to expand...


Alan
 
Edit 6/2/16:
We've diverged into a wide range of different space related topics outside of interstellar, so I'm changing the prompt and title of the thread from "Interstellar Space Travel" to "Space Discussion Thread". The original topic is still relevant, but feel free to post about anything else space-related.

So far, we've talked about the challenges and demand for FTL, a little bit of astronomy, a little bit of physics, propulsion technology, space suits, terraforming, solar system exploration, colonization, and more.


**Original***********************************************************************
Do you guys think we're ever going to be capable of interstellar space travel? What do you think it'll be like?

Even though space technology has sped up a lot with privatization, I still think we aren't innovating fast enough.

There's a lot of hype about a Martian colony, but it's currently bound to be disappointing for most of us and unreasonable for civilian life. I think that the only way humanity will be able to truly inhabit another planet is to find one that's very similar to Earth, but the only ones are outside our solar system.

Problem is that we're still pretty far from any technology that could get a human to a different solar system within their lifespan.

What do you all think?
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Re: Interstellar Space Travel

China will get there before us, half our nation is comprised of de evolved dead weight, we will be lucky if we stay free without a revolution. Maybe later, maybe we will go with other nations, right now I fear it's very much back burner.
 
Re: Interstellar Space Travel

TombyG said:
I wish we could travel space but according to Einstein, we can't travel faster than light. If his theories are true then we could never travel fast enough but we could freeze the crew until the amount of time has passed. Honestly though that's not ideal as you would say goodbye to everyone you know for only one trip. To great of a sacrifice if you ask me. Warping space is another idea that could work but do we know for sure if space is malleable to stretch and manipulate? Don't know yet. Just theories. Seems it's always just theories. Maybe it's why we love scifi so much. Gives us hope to our true desires.
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Yeah. I feel like some sort of FTL technology would have to be made for any sort of serious interstellar travel. Warping would be awesome.

If we could get up to .5c though, there are several stars that could be reached within 50 years. Not sure who would volunteer for that though.
 
Re: Interstellar Space Travel

Thanks for starting this thread! I love topics like these :D

As of right now, I don't think we are anywhere near being able to colonize space. Look at our species! We're arguing over bathrooms, transgendered people and a total lack on money being spent on science, but on war!

That being said, if we were to try and build in space, we should start with the Moon. Sure, we have some equipment left there, but it's close enough to Earth to rapidly send supplies if need be, and has a terrain and composition we know about. Mars is a huge step. A step I don't think we should try to climb until we figure problems here on Earth. Hec, trying to end our problems here before colonizing the Moon may be good to! Trying to go to distance galaxies, Moons, stars etc.... isn't something we'll be seeing for awhile IMO :yh:

-Alex
 
Re: Interstellar Space Travel

Hap said:
Thanks for starting this thread! I love topics like these :D

As of right now, I don't think we are anywhere near being able to colonize space. Look at our species! We're arguing over bathrooms, transgendered people and a total lack on money being spent on science, but on war!

That being said, if we were to try and build in space, we should start with the Moon. Sure, we have some equipment left there, but it's close enough to Earth to rapidly send supplies if need be, and has a terrain and composition we know about. Mars is a huge step. A step I don't think we should try to climb until we figure problems here on Earth. Hec, trying to end our problems here before colonizing the Moon may be good to! Trying to go to distance galaxies, Moons, stars etc.... isn't something we'll be seeing for awhile IMO :yh:

-Alex
Click to expand...

If we're talking about solar system objects, I think that settling the moon with a more permanent facility is definitely a must. I honestly feel like Venus is a good second choice with Mars as a third. After that, asteroids, Jupiter's moons or Saturn's atmosphere or moons.

A good starting point for better space habitats would be underwater labs and advanced new submarines in the ocean. The technology is easier to work with, cheaper, and a little safer. Better submarine tech could be used in gas giants (Saturn) and thick atmospheres (Venus). Could also be a source for very valuable environmental data.
 
Re: Interstellar Space Travel

Interplanetary travel will happen with in the next fifty to hundred years. Its when they can develop a engine that can reach close to one c or better. FTL is kind of a pipe dream. now Warp theory has been proven. It is basically taking to points in space and bringing them together like folding a piece of paper in half. two particle physic professors proved that it could be done. So it really comes down to how people can think of a way to get going that fast or making a warp bubble and that is it
 
Re: Interstellar Space Travel

Rivem said:
If we're talking about solar system objects, I think that settling the moon with a more permanent facility is definitely a must. I honestly feel like Venus is a good second choice with Mars as a third. After that, asteroids, Jupiter's moons or Saturn's atmosphere or moons.

A good starting point for better space habitats would be underwater labs and advanced new submarines in the ocean. The technology is easier to work with, cheaper, and a little safer. Better submarine tech could be used in gas giants (Saturn) and thick atmospheres (Venus). Could also be a source for very valuable environmental data.
Click to expand...

Thing with Venus is that you'll need to first get rid of that incredible cloud of gas that wraps around the planet, creating huge temperatures(around 400 Fahrenheit) and the immense pressure! We did manage to get a spacecraft to land on its surface, however it only lasted 50mins before exploding lol :D

-Alex
 
Re: Interstellar Space Travel

Hap Its actually less that 15 minutes your forgetting the amount of pressure that is on venus
 
Re: Interstellar Space Travel

VirtueViolater said:
Particle physics will change our lives in the next 20 yrs. Maybe we'll be able to just "beam" ourselves there. Here's to hoping we get there in one piece.....lol
Danny
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Wouldn't beaming somebody effectively 'kill' them and just create a copy that thought it was them? As for the main topic, I don't think it's gonna be possible in a practical sense unless we develop some kind of warp drive/wormhole tech. Maybe multi-generational 'arc-ships' could be a thing. It would be hard getting people to volunteer for such a trip though, knowing they'd never come back.
 
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Re: Interstellar Space Travel

Hap said:
Thing with Venus is that you'll need to first get rid of that incredible cloud of gas that wraps around the planet, creating huge temperatures(around 400 Fahrenheit) and the immense pressure! We did manage to get a spacecraft to land on its surface, however it only lasted 50mins before exploding lol :D

-Alex
Click to expand...

Who said anything about terraforming or living on the surface? :D

Read this section: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_Venus#Aerostat_habitats_and_floating_cities
Still has acid and is pretty hot, but not nearly as much radiation as Mars, and the pressure wouldn't require spacesuits. A light Chem suit would do. I think a system of cloud cities and airships would be awesome. There's plenty sunlight at that part of the atmosphere too.

Edit: Check this article out for NASA ideas http://www.space.com/29140-venus-airship-cloud-cities-incredible-technology.html
 
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Re: Interstellar Space Travel

Rivem said:
Who said anything about terraforming or living on the surface? :D

Read this section: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_Venus#Aerostat_habitats_and_floating_cities
Still has acid and is pretty hot, but not nearly as much radiation as Mars, and the pressure wouldn't require spacesuits. A light Chem suit would do. I think a system of cloud cities and airships would be awesome. There's plenty sunlight at that part of the atmosphere too.

Edit: Check this article out for NASA ideas Incredible Technology: NASA's Wild Airship Idea for Cloud Cities on Venus
Click to expand...

Ahhhhhhhh :D

-Alex
 
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