Alien Earth 13 light years away

[Fritzo]

Thats just a lack of will though, we could easily be doing so already if we wanted to.

I don't know about "easily." It would taken an enormous amount of resources and advancement to pull it off, and all for an unsure goal.

 

[skyking]

I don't know about "easily." It would taken an enormous amount of resources and advancement to pull it off, and all for an unsure goal.

No more than Apollo was, relative to the period. That goal was simply "tag, we were first", and look at all the sciency stuff we got out of that one.

 

[Fritzo]

No more than Apollo was, relative to the period. That goal was simply "tag, we were first", and look at all the sciency stuff we got out of that one.

It would actually be orders of magnitude more difficult. We accomplished a lot of amazing things in the 20th century because, in a sense, there was a lot of "low- hanging fruit." We were able to harness physical properties and energy levels to a certain degree. The benefits of these advancements gives us the tech-rich world in which we live today.

The problem is, all of that low-hanging fruit has been eaten. We're approaching a physics wall where we're limited by the energy levels we can reach on Earth. This especially has an impact on space travel, as the distances involved are so vast that they're difficult to fathom.

For instance, in the late 80's, we came up with a plan to send a probe to Alpha Centauri B using existing technology. The probe was called Project Longshot, and it would have used an advanced fusion laser system for both propulsion and communication. The craft would have been mostly engine, weighed nearly 450 TONS, would have been able to reach about 4.5% the speed of light. At this velocity, it would take a century to reach its destination.

The project was scrapped after cost estimates ran into the trillions of dollars, and the fact it would take 104.37 years minimum to get a signal back from the destination. Scientists wondered if the project would even be relevant after that much time passed (similar to people that bought a i386 computer in 1992 for $2500, and you can buy one now 20 years later that is 100x more powerful for $500...you wasted a lot of money because the technology wasn't mature).

I do agree that we eventually need to create interstellar spacecraft, but they are so resource intensive that we first need to get a desirable target. This is why I am more for advanced telescope systems at this point. If we can detect a planet that has life, that would give us a target with a concrete payoff. Once a solid target it found, we can customize a craft for the specific mission.

I do think we'll find a planet with life in the next 25 years or so, but I don't think we'll be launching interstellar missions before 2050...maybe longer.

 

[SAWYER]

We are the planet out there with life, we are the aliens to other planets. Not a chance in hell we are the only life in the whole universe, that is just dumb to think that

 

[coldmeat]

Cost, and the danger of killing passengers and breaking equipment on the projectile... Which means more cost.

But doesn't it cost 100s of millions per launch already? A shuttle launch is over a $billion. Pay a little more now to build the StarTram, and when it's finished everything is drastically cheaper and we can send huge amounts of material to space for practically nothing. We also don't even need to run the risk of killing passengers, because we could still send people up in shuttles, just send material up with the sled.

 

[wirednuts]

AWESOME. exactly like i thought. in our own freaking galaxy there are roughly enough earth like planets for each adult alive today! i just want my own planet...

 

[Agent11]

But doesn't it cost 100s of millions per launch already? A shuttle launch is over a $billion. Pay a little more now to build the StarTram, and when it's finished everything is drastically cheaper and we can send huge amounts of material to space for practically nothing. We also don't even need to run the risk of killing passengers, because we could still send people up in shuttles, just send material up with the sled.

Yea but if you think about it most of what we need for earth is a way to move people cheaply. If we built bases on the moon and the larger asteroids we would have access to a lot of material for building things outside of strong gravity wells but most of the people would still be on earth.

People don't react well to sudden acceleration, it's possible to make it work... at this stage in the game though idk.