Recent content by Epiphany

Dr. Joe, I really appreciate you taking the time to answer questions such as this. Here are a few questions on my mind: I understand that studies have shown that there are galaxies without, or with very little, dark matter. How does not having dark matter affect galaxy formation? Are...

Yes, Distance = Velocity / Time is a typo, and you can see I used it as Distance = Time x Velocity. There is nothing odd about this. The distance if you travel 2 hours in a car at 60mph is Distance = 2 hours x 60 miles/hour, the hours cancel out and you are left with D = 2 x 60 miles = 120...

Like, that was a “RUDE” landing? LOL

Thanks @Catastrophe. Also, I know that light year is a measure of distance, but the calculation is easier than that. Distance is Velocity/Time, so with a light year, the distance = (1 year x 5.88 x 10^12 miles/year). The year terms cancel out and you are left with a distance (miles in this...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvim4rsNHkQ SpaceX put out this great video of their numerous landing failures for the Falcon rocket. They learned things from every failed landing, and now successful Falcon booster landings are the standard. Didn't they land a booster that's been to...

Sure. You calculated a total of 25.8 x 10^13 miles to the star, but it’s actually 2.58x 10^13. More simply, if you are traveling 4.3 light years at .01C (1%), then travel time is 4.3/.01=430 years, no need for further equations.

@Catastrophe, I think you have a X10 error. 4.3 x 6x 10^12 would be 25.8 x 10^12, or 2.58 x 10^13. But hey, there is also MASSIVE Time dilation due to the velocity. Sure, it'd take (rounding greatly) 430 years to get to the nearest star at 1% of C, but to the passengers it would only be...

As @Catastrophe notes, why do we assume an advanced civilization would want to broadcast its presence? Do we all buy the idea that “advanced” beings would be kind, benevolent and cooperative just because they’re advanced? I think Chinese sci-if writer Liu Cixin had the right idea in his “dark...

The SpaceX Falcon 9 v.1.2 is currently the most reliable rocket in use, with 82 successful launches out of 82 attempts, and ~70 of those with reused rockets. SpaceX share of new launch contracts was 30% for 2016, 45% for 2017, and 60% for 2018. it looks like those “silly landable boosters” are...

I read the “breakthrough star shot” article. It’s a fun subject, but they seem to rely on Moore’s law like it’s a fundamental physical law of the universe. Their laser energy requirements of “a few gigawatt hours” is doable. I’ve developed grid-level energy storage plants with >100 MWh, but...

Yes Cat, good point. I had thought about life possibilities on ocean moons like Europa, and it’ll be interesting to see what they find under 20 km of ice. On whether humans will be around long enough to colonize the solar system, I wouldn’t disagree with you. That may depend on what we call...

Getting back to the original question, I see nothing wrong with colonizing the solar system. Unless some radical new physics appears, we aren’t traveling to the stars in our or our children’s lifetimes, so that question is moot to me. If the ethos is “all life is sacred”, then which would...

Orion is very cool, but my money is on Cassiopeia. I like to point out to my kids and such that if it's really, really, really dark the smudge you can see under one V of the lazy W is Andromeda, and we are seeing it as it was 2.5 million years ago.

Hey @amongthestars931, the 70's I romanticize, but Yakima a beautiful place? Well I like open country and sagebrush, but I'm not sure most people do. ;-> Yakima, is called the "Palm Springs of Washington" with some irony.

For the benefit of mankind, I’d probably fire myself! Otherwise, I’d focus some resources on an earth orbital station. Both for logistical support for refueling and other efforts with Starship, and for tourist travel. Market space travel to the billionaire set as more status than a 400 foot...