Alpha Centauri Explorer II

DrRocket · Jun 26, 2008

Replying to: <DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'> Yes it’s highly hypothetical and there’s no real solution to that yet. If the total Energy of matter is limited to mc^2, a antimatter propulsion wont even be sufficient to reach c. ½ c in 10 years with antimatter propulsion seems to be the least impossible mission. Posted by vidargander</DIV>It is impossible to reach a speed of c with any object that has non-zero rest mass.  It doesn't matter what the source for driving energy is, to reach c with a massive object will require and infinite amount of it.There is a tiny problem with antimatter propulsion.  We don't have much antimatter.  And we don't have any means of storing it outside of a particle accelerator. In 1995 dollars, Fermilab produces at a cost of $48 million enough antiprotons to provide a constant power source of 1/1000 Watt,  So if you could fund and operate 100.000 Fermilab accelerators, you could produce enough antiprotons to power a modest light bulb. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

qso1 · Jun 27, 2008

What I was wondering about, but didn’t get into the posting, is; if the Voyagers were not meant for interstellar voyage, what is the point in the ‘golden record’? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_RecordThe Pioneers and Voyagers themselves were not designed for interstellar travel in the sense they could be functional upon arrival at some star system. The plaque was put there because the designers or whoever knew thw Voyagers trajectories would carry it into interstellar space. The plaque designers simply wanted something there just in case that in some 1 in 1oo quadrillion zillion chance that the probe would be intercepted by ETs. Do astronomers still consider Extra Terrestrial life in our own solar system as possible?If by extraterrestrial life, you mean any form. Astronomers do consider that microbial life is possible on mars and maybe subsurface oceans of europa. Intelligent life, I doubt any astronomers believe our own solar system harbors any. I don’t really know the 3D direction from Sol to Alpha Centauri. Is it through the Kuiper Belt’s plane, or is the direct path another angle, free from plutoids' hazard? Posted by vidargander <img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/4/9/24f30fac-13d1-4a9d-a9d4-24fc0d79f60e.Medium.jpg" alt="" /> Note the earths and Alpha Centauris position, the sun would be out of view just below the bottom portion of the image. <img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/3/6/13e7789e-e1d7-4ca7-b6ea-49b6bf7a2f43.Medium.jpg" alt="" /> Viewed from the side, earth ahead of the sun tho the arrow points to its position relative to the sun, in reality...the earth is much closer to the sun  but due to the enormous scale and distance. I used the arrow to show what side of the sun earth is on so you can ref it to the top graphic.Im not sure if the Kuiper Belt extends below the ecliptic, that is...5 plus billion miles below. The name implies that it does not but since they have only observed a tiny portion of the belt...dont know if its a belt or full blown sphere of objects. However, the distance between individual objects at the KB distance, is so enormous...there is probably very little chance of collision with larger objects.   <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> My borrowed quote for the time being:There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened. </div>

vidargander · Jun 27, 2008

Replying to: <DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>It is impossible to reach a speed of c with any object that has non-zero rest mass.  It doesn't matter what the source for driving energy is, to reach c with a massive object will require and infinite amount of it.There is a tiny problem with antimatter propulsion.  We don't have much antimatter.  And we don't have any means of storing it outside of a particle accelerator. In 1995 dollars, Fermilab produces at a cost of $48 million enough antiprotons to provide a constant power source of 1/1000 Watt,  So if you could fund and operate 100.000 Fermilab accelerators, you could produce enough antiprotons to power a modest light bulb. Posted by DrRocket</DIV>As mentioned previously, it’s a popular misinterpretation that its impossible to reach the speed of light and far beyond. Einstein’s use of the Lorentz’ transformation on Newton’s classical ‘Earthbound’ physics is like the Doppler Effect for sound. The simple fact is that the observer does experience distortions, but the voyager does not. There is simply no more barriers for the speed of light than the speed of sound.  Yes, you’re very right, anti-matter propulsion is merely theoretical now, and far from practical. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

vidargander · Jun 27, 2008

Replying to: <DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>What I was wondering about, but didn’t get into the posting, is; if the Voyagers were not meant for interstellar voyage, what is the point in the ‘golden record’? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_RecordThe Pioneers and Voyagers themselves were not designed for interstellar travel in the sense they could be functional upon arrival at some star system. The plaque was put there because the designers or whoever knew thw Voyagers trajectories would carry it into interstellar space. The plaque designers simply wanted something there just in case that in some 1 in 1oo quadrillion zillion chance that the probe would be intercepted by ETs. Do astronomers still consider Extra Terrestrial life in our own solar system as possible?If by extraterrestrial life, you mean any form. Astronomers do consider that microbial life is possible on mars and maybe subsurface oceans of europa. Intelligent life, I doubt any astronomers believe our own solar system harbors any. I don’t really know the 3D direction from Sol to Alpha Centauri. Is it through the Kuiper Belt’s plane, or is the direct path another angle, free from plutoids' hazard? Posted by vidargander Note the earths and Alpha Centauris position, the sun would be out of view just below the bottom portion of the image. Viewed from the side, earth ahead of the sun tho the arrow points to its position relative to the sun, in reality...the earth is much closer to the sun  but due to the enormous scale and distance. I used the arrow to show what side of the sun earth is on so you can ref it to the top graphic.Im not sure if the Kuiper Belt extends below the ecliptic, that is...5 plus billion miles below. The name implies that it does not but since they have only observed a tiny portion of the belt...dont know if its a belt or full blown sphere of objects. However, the distance between individual objects at the KB distance, is so enormous...there is probably very little chance of collision with larger objects.   Posted by qso1</DIV>Yes you're probably right that there are very few object in the path, if any. there are other dangers though. The public image is certainly changing over time. There has always been, and certainly still is, people that tell how the Univers is, without grounded on much facts. We are simply sitting here at the edge of the galaxy with a very simple point of view. Here are some new images that make sense:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliosheath#Heliosheathhttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Voyager_1_entering_heliosheath_region.jpgIt seems to me that our Sol has an Heliosphere, like a planet has an atmosphere. It protects our solar system like our atmosphere protects our planet. Beyond the Heliosheath it’s probably much harsher than in our system’s space. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

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