Posted on 12/16/2013 1:28:23 AM PST by Olog-hai
You’ve been watching too many Star Trek shows. No matter what the USA would have done or could have done — there would be no travel between solar systems - today, as we speak.
Well, that means they are about 22 years behind schedule ... :-) ...
In the late 50s - early 60’s, there were plans to build a super sized 40 million ton Orion interstellar ship with a crew of thousands.
The 40 ton interplanetary Orion would have had a crew of several hundred. (Cargo weight 1300 tons, acceleration 12 meter/sec ). Orion's motto was Mars by 1965, Saturn by 1970.
Wernher von Braun supported the original design. AC Clarke originally had an Orion ship for his “2001 Space Odyssey” movie.
Orion was killed in 63. And the Apollo Program began.
And keep you eyes on China - they would have no problem launching a similar ship.
Orion was killed in 1963 because people didn’t want nuclear bombs creating fallout all over the planet - much less created by spaceships taking off ... LOL ...
And the examination of differing propulsion systems (which NASA is still doing today) doesn’t mean any of them is feasible or will actually work in practice.
And interstellar travel makes no sense when no one on earth had ever been to the moon (at that time). In addition to that, no one even had a space station at that time.
Those two steps would be needed before any such Interstellar travel would even be contemplated.
In addition to that, one would have to be very well established in the space around earth first, then on the moon, and then on other planets in one’s own solar system - and then there would be enough experience and technology (and safety) for any contemplated interstellar travel.
At the present time, we have no real viable space station. What’s up there right now is like someone saying they have a nice house - and when you ask to see it, they point to a dog house in someone’s backyard ... :-) ...
And at the present time, we have absolutely nothing in regards to living on other planets or the moon and absolutely no moon base.
What you’re talking about now is simply pure science fiction and is driven by the movies at the theaters and on TV and it is not driven by the realities of governments, as they exist today, or by economics or by the realities of how we are actually living on earth right now.
My my
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