Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to re: Interstellar drives and distances...

oh... ok
Adam — (archived)

Hi Gary

Sorry I got that one wrong. I think that 0.03 - 0.05 c exhaust velocities from fusion is achieveable, but you might be right. We won't know until it is achieved.

However I agree with you on the preferred means of crew transportation - either as DNA or as "body scans". Unless some sort of easy NAFAL or FTL is just around the corner there's far too much plumbing needed for carting humans and their gizzards off to the stars.

Cosmic rays may not be as big a hassle as you imagine if a plasma magnet is as easy as Winglee et al's experiments imply. Should be practical to shield against ~ GeV particles then for low specific mass.

However, suspended animation would require a much lower level for decades long travel or else the cumulative damage would be lethal at revival. I'm not sure that even the natural potassium decay inside us would not be too much for someone in biostasis. So unless the ship is relativistic the trip times will require generation-style crew structure, which you know my doubts about.

So is relativistic flight ruled out? I don't think so yet. I think Gerald Nordley, and others, have made a strong case for momentum beams - steerable nanoparticles - as a potential beamed-power star-drive. If the aiming problem is tractable that is.

Adam

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