"This is Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. And if you are hearing this, it means I failed -- this time."
Posted on 09/08/2012 1:00:03 PM PDT by OldNavyVet
"35 years after its launch, Voyager 1 is poised to 'leave' the bubble of the solar system and sail into the mystery of interstellar space"
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
You can approach C (lightspeed) in about 2 years at 1G with this reservation. Math heavy at link.
From MH's link:
One major problem you would have to solve is the need for shielding. As you approach the speed of light you will be heading into an increasingly energetic and intense bombardment of cosmic rays and other particles. After only a few years of 1g acceleration even the cosmic background radiation is Doppler shifted into a lethal heat bath hot enough to melt all known materials.
Sounds like a rough trip! Guess we'll need to wait until the Star Trek deflector shields and warp drives are developed.
Not with Starfleet's finest inertial dampeners installed on your spacecraft!
"This is Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. And if you are hearing this, it means I failed -- this time."
The simple equation that relates force, mass and acce;eration is F = MA, and remembering that fact reminds me of a first-day physics question proposed to a classroom full of unicversity freshmen. The instructor pressed his hands hard against a wall and asked a question ...
"How much force am I exerting on this wall?"
The answer is simple ... Give it a try.
I think the best bet for extra solar system exploration could be called a “brute force probe”.
Basically an armored ball propelled by a nuclear ion drive, it gets to Jupiter via a conventional rocket booster, then uses Jupiter’s gravity to send it much faster, then finally the ion drive engages, getting it going at very high speed.
Only after it leaves the solar system, does its armor retract, allowing its instruments to work. Its nuclear power allows it to send a strong data signal to Earth.
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