Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

U.S. military to help launch interstellar space travel
Smartplanet ^ | 08/23/11 | Tuan C. Nguyen

Posted on 08/24/2011 6:06:59 PM PDT by KevinDavis

Forget sending people to Mars, one U.S. government agency wants to get the ball rolling on interstellar space travel.

Darpa, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is looking to award a $500,000 grant to an ambitious organization to figure out just what it would take to transport humans to stars orbiting beyond our galaxy, according to a report in the New York Times.

(Excerpt) Read more at smartplanet.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Science
KEYWORDS: space
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-47 next last
To: cripplecreek; All

It looks nice, but I can tell it has very little oceans and no beaches..


21 posted on 08/24/2011 6:33:19 PM PDT by KevinDavis (What has Ron Paul done in Congress??)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: KevinDavis

The Pak just used ramships, The Puppeteers just moved their planets in a kempler rosette with artificial suns. Or you can just buy the technology for FTL from the Outsiders. Sheesh, how about making it to Mars first, with maybe a moon base on the way.


22 posted on 08/24/2011 6:33:49 PM PDT by Waverunner (I'd like to welcome our new overlords, say hello to my little friend)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: KevinDavis

Alpha C is closer than we think.

We won’t likely be sending any people there during my lifetime but if we can achieve 1/16 or 1/8 lightspeed we could get some info back within a few decades.

10 years isn’t so long to wait on a probe. New Horizons was launched in 06 and isn’t due for a Pluto flyby till 2015.


23 posted on 08/24/2011 6:35:43 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Remember the River Raisin)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Oberon

Ding! We have a winner!

That was the first thing that jumped out at me in this article, too.


24 posted on 08/24/2011 6:36:29 PM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: KevinDavis

The reporter mentions leaving the galaxy as well which is a far more serious undertaking than mere interstellar travel


25 posted on 08/24/2011 6:41:14 PM PDT by muir_redwoods (Somewhere in Kenya, a village is missing an idiot)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: cripplecreek

a ship with a boot on a stick ,hand crank it up and have it kick the ship forward(well), be there no time


26 posted on 08/24/2011 6:41:45 PM PDT by molson209
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: KevinDavis

Good. Maybe one day there really will be a “USS” Enterprise in space.


27 posted on 08/24/2011 6:43:29 PM PDT by BigCinBigD
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cripplecreek; KevinDavis; winoneforthegipper
Unless we discover new technology or admit we've recovered an alien spacecraft to study, the most practical way to explore outside our solar system is to construct a humongous space telescope.
28 posted on 08/24/2011 6:43:29 PM PDT by Errant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: KevinDavis

A 50 year run to Alpha Centauri? What kind of meal plan would they have onboard? I mean, it would be a drag if every Tuesday was tuna casserole day. That would be about 2,600 servings of tuna casserole for the voyage.


29 posted on 08/24/2011 6:49:59 PM PDT by 6SJ7 (atlasShruggedInd = TRUE)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: KevinDavis
Maybe they're trying to find Quisp.
30 posted on 08/24/2011 6:50:09 PM PDT by Route797
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: KevinDavis

Stasis


31 posted on 08/24/2011 6:51:04 PM PDT by wastedyears (Of course you realize, this means war.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: KevinDavis

How about the “Impossibility Drive”?


32 posted on 08/24/2011 6:57:32 PM PDT by Miles the Slasher
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Oberon

Depressing isn’t it? None the 300 of billion stars in our galaxy made A list.


33 posted on 08/24/2011 6:58:01 PM PDT by Justa
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: cripplecreek; All
The idea of DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is to fund high payoff, high risk projects that the private sector isn't willing to risk. I think it is one of the few things that the government does right.

As mentioned earlier, it is how we ended up with the Internet and GPS. It usually takes quite a while for these things to pay off, if they do.

Lately, it looks as though we may cure the common cold as a spinoff of one of DARPA’s projects. (a wide spectrum anti-viral)

34 posted on 08/24/2011 6:59:22 PM PDT by marktwain (In an age of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: KevinDavis

I’m all for space exploration, but in this case, are we not just sending some folks a long way from home simply to die, and spending a ton of money to do it? What could they see or discover from their tiny little space craft that couldn’t also be seen from the Hubble? I think we should stay focused on our own Solar System.


35 posted on 08/24/2011 7:01:21 PM PDT by KoRn (Department of Homeland Security, Certified - "Right Wing Extremist")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cripplecreek

Evicted? Oh, now I get it. Our man made global warming makes us so irresponsible that we’ve been evicted from the galaxy.


36 posted on 08/24/2011 7:04:25 PM PDT by Justa
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Justa

“None the 300 of billion stars in our galaxy made A list.”

No, but they are still rated AAA by Standard & Poors.


37 posted on 08/24/2011 7:13:51 PM PDT by PastorBooks
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: marktwain

“Lately, it looks as though we may cure the common cold as a spinoff of one of DARPA’s projects. (a wide spectrum anti-viral)”

Easy... oil of oregano. Now where’s my half-million? :)


38 posted on 08/24/2011 7:15:49 PM PDT by PastorBooks
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: PastorBooks; All

Well, it looks like the DARPA version (developed at MIT) is also good against the Ebola virus....

http://www.pharmaceutical-int.com/news/mits-draco-drug-could-kill-all-viruses.html


39 posted on 08/24/2011 7:40:29 PM PDT by marktwain (In an age of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: occamrzr06

Ah, the famous “parsecs as time” error. George Lucas, hang your head in shame.


40 posted on 08/24/2011 7:44:11 PM PDT by TheOldLady (FReepmail me to get ON or OFF the ZOT LIGHTNING ping list.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-47 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson