And if they think we should colonize the stars, versus planets, then they apparently failed more than math! But it is revealing how much type and hype is given the latest "earth-like" planet, as if the rudimentary "earth-like" status would make colonizing feasible, and traveling even a few light years is plausible in the near future.
No it isn't. How (other than here a miracle occurs)? Let's do a thought experiment keeping in mind that Newton doesn't go away even at relativistic speed, but to avoid relativity postulate a probe going 1/2 c. Compared to the probe's mass how much energy is required to accelerate the probe to that speed? Answer 1/2 mv2 (Newton). Now look at the 2nd law of thermodynamics that says all real processes are inefficient (and the more energetic the process the more inefficient is usually is). Being wildly and completely unrealistically generous and saying that whatever process accelerates the probe is 50% efficient, then the amount of energy required to accelerate the probe is 2*(1/2mv2) = E=mc2 (Einsten) which happens to be the total energy equivalent of the mass being accelerated.
It can't carry enough energy even at total mass to energy conversion (not even theoretically possible) to reach that speed. Now if you postulate that some other mechanism accelerated the probe like a cannon shell, then there isn't any way the probe can carry enough energy to ever slow down. Space enthusiasts never think stuff like this though
No it isn't. How (other than here a miracle occurs)? Let's do a thought experiment keeping in mind that Newton doesn't go away even at relativistic speed, but to avoid relativity postulate a probe going 1/2 c. Compared to the probe's mass how much energy is required to accelerate the probe to that speed? Answer 1/2 mv2 (Newton). Now look at the 2nd law of thermodynamics that says all real processes are inefficient (and the more energetic the process the more inefficient is usually is). Being wildly and completely unrealistically generous and saying that whatever process accelerates the probe is 50% efficient, then the amount of energy required to accelerate the probe is 2*(1/2mv2) = E=mc2 (Einsten) which happens to be the total energy equivalent of the mass being accelerated.
It can't carry enough energy even at total mass to energy conversion (not even theoretically possible) to reach that speed. Now if you postulate that some other mechanism accelerated the probe like a cannon shell, then there isn't any way the probe can carry enough energy to ever slow down. Space enthusiasts never think stuff like this though