Beam me to the stars

[guygore]

Why do we need this distant travel. We are already very close to a star that would be of no difference than the ones light years away!

 

[Classical Motion]

Some believe that we are destroying our environment and will need a new planet. And we can only delay this future.

Others believe that if we don't protect this galaxy, the Klingons will.

And others, just want to go. It's a calling of the wild. A dare.

But it will never happen.

The pepper of matter can not be crossed. Even with light speeds.

 

[fj.torres]

It's not the star, it is the planet.
Even if we don't destroy it, there's a dozen natural disasters that can end the species if we don't expand.
Beyond that, the nature of human cultures is expand or stagnate and collapse. Add in the inherently tribal nature of the species and conflicts are inevitable.

We need room to separate the tribes. A pressure valve so we can focus outwards and not on each other.
The moon, Mars, Ganymede, Titan, and Callisto can serve as temporary targets but only if we maintain a reasonable level of technology. Less than star travel but better than sticking to the mudball.

Problem is, that still leaves a half dozen ways to go extinct. Pandemics , supervolcanos, supernovas, solar instability, large interstellar intruder, say a brown dwarf altering orbits. Or, yes, wars. (But not aliens, thankfully. They make for good SF but the odds are we are alone.)

Humans fight.
Humans kill.
Especially when a lot of them are too close together.
Cities are near the top of the list of worse human inventions.
Best to keep our distance from each other.

Trick is find a few dozen worlds to spread out to until our genetics move past our inner troglodytes. Tech moves faster than evolution.

 

[Classical Motion]

I don’t believe many realized what we can do. Many can not concept having an in-exhaustible free and clean energy source….. and what that source could do.

And it’s only 10 miles away.

Cleaning toxic zones would be peanuts, when we can water deserts. And fill inland seas. With fresh water. And pump other commodities thousands of miles.

That’s only a start with abundant energy. We might garden this planet. Fireproof a forest.

Existing facilities need not move. And continue existing technology. Smooth fast transition.

We need a “Musk” for our planet.

A vertical boring apparatus.

 

[billslugg]

The Quaise company is further along than anyone in thermal gyrotron drilling but their website monthly status reports are just rehashes. Nothing seems to be happening.

 

[fj.torres]

I don’t believe many realized what we can do. Many can not concept having an in-exhaustible free and clean energy source….. and what that source could do.

And it’s only 10 miles away.

Cleaning toxic zones would be peanuts, when we can water deserts. And fill inland seas. With fresh water. And pump other commodities thousands of miles.

That’s only a start with abundant energy. We might garden this planet. Fireproof a forest.

Existing facilities need not move. And continue existing technology. Smooth fast transition.

We need a “Musk” for our planet.

A vertical boring apparatus.

That exists.
It is fracking: not only vertical, but horizontal drilling.
And not just for oil and gas but for clean geothermal energy. And it works everywhere that is tectonically stable.
Lots of projects are ongoing right now, in Canada, Germany, and this one in Utah:

Google Taps Hot Rocks to Cool Climate

The potential of geothermal energy as a carbon-free power source is well known. Now companies such as Google are helping to unlock it

www.scientificamerican.com

The only "downside" is it requires fracking expertise. Ergo american and canadian companies. And they have no shortage of profitable work already. Turns out banning fracking isn't smart.

 

[Classical Motion]

It just seems to me that it would stop a lot a squabbles, for all have the same power potential, right where they are. And no toxic effects. What sediment does need cleaned can easily be dealt with. Plenty of power.

The heat and water removed is renewable. No great downside, except initial costs. Power can mitigate many problems. And pay for more holes. This is a lot different from the present geothermal units. Geo units can sump the surface after a time. These are deep crust bore holes. No hot spots or faults needed.

And on the way down, many other products and materials might be found. Such as minerals, metals and crystals. Knowing they are there is money in the bank.

And with a new boring technology, many activities can be done underground. And many systems can be put underground. Underground residential areas in the tropics for cooling. Far north for heating.

Going thru mountain ranges in weeks instead of years.

All metal processing, no all processing, done with clean electric.

It goes on and on. Electrified roads, no battery needed. A road is a grid.

All the future needs is cheap power. And to argue about the stars while enjoying it.

 

[Hevach]

Why do we need this distant travel. We are already very close to a star that would be of no difference than the ones light years away!

This is like saying Earth is no different than Venus so why look at it.

Just the closest star to the sun is extraordinarily different from the sun. For starters it's three stars. One is of the same spectral type as the sun but larger and much brighter and more active. One is a different spectral type, smaller and cooler. The last is not even a main sequence stat but a red dwarf. It's also a flare star with incredibly powerful magnetic storms.

While the system as a whole likely has few planets it definitely has at least one, with three more possible, and none of them are anything like our solar system. There's a rocky planet terrifyingly close to its star, an earth sized planet that's kind of in the habitable range but is blasted by the flare star's wrath, and a possible gas giant very close to the habitable range of the brightest star. The least interesting object in the whole system is a possible Neptune sized giant planet some distance from Proxima Centauri.

All three of these stars and three of the planets have no analog within our own solar system. Proxima c (if it can be confirmed) might be similar to Neptune in many respects. But so is Uranus and those two planets are different enough that a mission to one tells us little about the other.



Now I will say every proposal to actually get there in the next century (or several) is missing a few steps and making some dubious assumptions. But if we could wish in one hand and fill it up first the things that mission sees would be some of the most unique and singular things that have ever been seen.