Posted on 02/12/2017 7:07:41 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
The last man who walked on the moon has already passed away. Will there ever come a time when another person gets to be credited with the honor of walking on any part of the universe other than Earth?
Space is the ultimate destination. And it’s been 30 years since that fateful moon walk which, sadly (and maybe disappointingly), has yet to be repeated. We’ve been hearing and constantly talking about going to Mars. But until now, it’s still just talk, though there are concrete plans on the way.
To make the trip to Mars (or other planets or stars) a reality, we have to develop the needed technology that can cut travel time significantly. And that requires an effective propulsion system. There are a few experimental systems in the works. But whether these systems will eventually be built and used on manned spacecraft remains to be seen.
Antimatter
Antimatter is made of antiparticles and is known to have the highest energy density among any of the known substances. If it can be used as fuel, it can potentially provide the most efficient propulsion system, capable of converting up to 75% of its mass into thrust energy.
According to the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC), ten thousandths of a gram of antimatter will be sufficient enough to send a spacecraft to Mars in just 45 days. As infinitesimal as that amount is, however, creating it is the main problem.
Right now, antimatter can only be created using particle accelerators, and the amount created is far too small to be usable. If we can somehow find a way to create more, then maybe an antimatter engine can be built in due time.
Fusion
Fusion attempts to replicate the sun’s power by heating fuel to super-intense temperatures until atomic nuclei fuse and produce more energy. Fusion power can be achieved in two ways — continuous fusion and pulsed fusion.
Continuous fusion is dependent on output from a fusion reactor. It’s something that scientists have been attempting to develop for decades but up to now have remained unsuccessful.
Pulsed fusion involves regulated or controlled detonation of a small fusion bomb to create thrust. Pulsed fusion is more feasible, but ironically, it is more unacceptable because detonating a fusion bomb, even if it’s a controlled process, will likely violate nuclear test bans.
Ion Drive
The ion drive thruster works by ionizing (giving a positive or negative charge) an unreactive fuel molecule, then using an electric field to accelerate it from behind. While the thrust generated is low — meaning the engine acceleration is slow — an ion engine is ideal for long-range missions because it can theoretically deliver thrust that’s 10 times more than what conventional fuel can provide.
This technology has already been used, most notably by the Dawn spaceprobe which is presently orbiting around dwarf planet Ceres. NASA is presently working on new systems such as the NASA Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) and the Annular Engine.
Photonic Propulsion
In contrast with conventional propulsion methods — firing propellant in the opposite direction that a spacecraft wants to go — photonic propulsion will make use of an array of lasers that will be fired at a spacecraft to send it into space. This means there’s no need for fuel that contributes added weight. And because the spacecraft is lighter, it can accelerate much faster with less friction, and reach higher speeds than previously possible.
Theoretically, this technology will allow a spacecraft to reach 1/4 the speed of light in only a matter of minutes, then travel at nearly 174.3 million miles per hour. At this rate, it can supposedly reach Mars in as little as 30 minutes.
The technology is being developed by University of California Santa Barbara scientists led by Professor Phillip Lubin.
Plasma
Similar with the ion drive, but with a slight twist. Instead of using nonreactive fuel, electrical and magnetic currents are used to accelerate ions (charged particles) in plasma to produce thrust.
The most powerful plasma rocket prototype is currently being developed by the Ad Astra Rocket Company in Texas. It’s known as the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) and will theoretically be able to send a spacecraft to Mars in as little as 39 days.
Solar Sails
A solar sail works by catching photons (particles of light) and having these photons push the sail to propel a craft forward. Ideally, a spacecraft with a solar sail that’s big enough can catch enormous amounts of photons, enough to push a craft at amazing speeds without the need for fuel.
The feasibility of this concept has already been proven in 2010 by Japan’s Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun (IKAROS) project, and last year by the LightSail project.
The challenge with solar sails is that as it moves farther away from the sun, the weaker its thrust becomes. This basically limits its use to cosmic destinations that are not too distant from the sun.
Different technologies and different capabilities all directed towards one goal – to bring us to space. Let’s sit back and observe while the race to build the best propulsion system rages on.
But a gang of boys in 1852 would never have dreamed of what you saw I 1952.
174,000,000 miles per hour?
Ok, but can it corner?
“Secret work is continuing on crystalized soy-kale-current Paltrow-miracle-whatsit mix. It’s going to be Hugh!”
Oh no!
Maybe that does justify billions of tax dollars and a trip to Mars...
Well there were a lot of flying saucer movies around that time. I think we had seen “Invaders From Mars” at the Bay Theater only a short time before.
Deuy 29:29: The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.
According to some we are already traveling to the stars with our own craft built by reverse engineering crashed alien ships. Whoever is in charge just isn’t into sharing that type of information, I guess.
I’m not saying it’s not possible, just improbable.
If there is no good way around the limits we understand right now, it will require planning on a multi-generational level over thousands of years. If we find a way to make ourselves not die of old age maybe less time would be needed.
Assuming rockets can fly at speed of light (still waiting for cold fusion and cancer cure), the nearest planet with possible life sustaining conditions is thousands of light years away.
So, when the space ship arrives at the destination, it will be a ghost ship, unless we can procreate in the spaceship several generations of humans. Will there be OB-Gynecologists, facilities to give birth, children’s playgrounds, growing food for thousands of years, and so on and so on.
Can we achieve cold fusion first?
the universe will destroy any ship we send.
we have idiots who cant figure out what g-d sex they are y looking at their own junk.
we are regressing in our so-called intelligence. dont deserve to infect anywhere else at our current intellectual decay.
It’s cute they think we were on the moon 30 years ago.
Try over 40 years ago.
Blackout positive acceleration for most people is 5-7 g's. Pilots, and other trained people can withstand 10-15 g's for brief periods of time. People survive ≅ 100 g's for tenths of seconds in impact crashes, but no one could survive 100 g's for seconds, let alone minutes.
And we will call it outercourse
Like a Chevy Vega.
If you were travelling at 99.99c for the trip, you would age only 1 year every 71 years. That puts a 1-way trip of 1500-2100 light years within reach without procreating on the way.
Actually 174.3 million miles per hour is about 1/4000 the speed of light
Barbie says "Math is hard"
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