To mars in 7 days

wavefreak
Theist
wavefreak's picture
Posts: 1825
Joined: 2007-05-10
User is offlineOffline

BGH
BGH's picture
Posts: 2772
Joined: 2006-09-28
User is offlineOffline
That would be so awesome,

That would be so awesome, cutting space travel times by that much would make so many more things plausible.

 


Hambydammit
High Level DonorModeratorRRS Core Member
Hambydammit's picture
Posts: 8657
Joined: 2006-10-22
User is offlineOffline
Wowzers... You remember my

Wowzers...

You remember my thread, "What has Christianity given us that is unique to Christianity, and could not have been possible without it?"

Can you imagine a thread just like it, except with the word, "Science" instead?

We could all spend the rest of our lives writing contributions for it, and theoretically never repeat one.

Fucking A... 7 days to Mars.

Wow.

...

I think my brain just blew a gasket.

 

Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin

http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism


Tilberian
Moderator
Tilberian's picture
Posts: 1118
Joined: 2006-11-27
User is offlineOffline
Neat stuff. I read

Neat stuff. I read elsewhere how they figure that, with a nuclear reactor powering the laser, they could drive 40-60 tons.

Targetting that laser will be a bitch, though. 

Lazy is a word we use when someone isn't doing what we want them to do.
- Dr. Joy Brown


Gadren
Gadren's picture
Posts: 10
Joined: 2007-09-13
User is offlineOffline
This is really amazing, and

This is really amazing, and I hope that this sort of technology is pursued.  Seeing the fruits of science and technology like this always gives me a wonderful sense of human achievement and the greatness of reality.  It's the same feeling I get when I watch Sagan's Cosmos.

"True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written; in writing what deserves to be read; and in so living as to make the world happier for our living in it." -Pliny the Elder


wavefreak
Theist
wavefreak's picture
Posts: 1825
Joined: 2007-05-10
User is offlineOffline
Tilberian wrote: Neat

Tilberian wrote:

Neat stuff. I read elsewhere how they figure that, with a nuclear reactor powering the laser, they could drive 40-60 tons.

Targetting that laser will be a bitch, though.

 

Bumper sticker on the rear end:

 

If you can read this you are dead. 


theotherguy
theotherguy's picture
Posts: 294
Joined: 2007-01-07
User is offlineOffline
Wow!  When I was in a NASA

Wow!

 When I was in a NASA scholars program over the summer we got to see the VASIMIR plasma engine prototype, and speak with the lead engineer on the project. VASIMIR would cut travel times to mars to 34 days, and we thought that was incredible!

 

But this? SEVEN DAYS!?!? wow! Let's just see how it turns out. I hope it doesn't require superconductors or anything to function, because really this could be the answer for interplanetary travel, and perhaps coupled with plasma engines and ion engines could power a new generation of probes and human spacecraft. 


phooney
phooney's picture
Posts: 385
Joined: 2007-02-07
User is offlineOffline
That's ridiculously

That's ridiculously awesome!

How long could this thing accellerate for?


wavefreak
Theist
wavefreak's picture
Posts: 1825
Joined: 2007-05-10
User is offlineOffline
the artivle talks of speed

the artivle talks of speed of 100km/sec. That's Jupiter in 68 days (min to earth distance 588 million KM). Even if you double that for acceleration and deceleration thats still conceivable for a manned mission..

Practical travel to the inner solar system. Mind blowing if it works out. 


Hambydammit
High Level DonorModeratorRRS Core Member
Hambydammit's picture
Posts: 8657
Joined: 2006-10-22
User is offlineOffline
Quote: the artivle talks

Quote:

the artivle talks of speed of 100km/sec. That's Jupiter in 68 days (min to earth distance 588 million KM). Even if you double that for acceleration and deceleration thats still conceivable for a manned mission..

Practical travel to the inner solar system. Mind blowing if it works out.

I wonder at what speed dust particles become dangerous to hull integrity.

I read a book a while back about the "Science of Star Trek."  The deal is, when you travel at warp speed, even the smallest particle can be really dangerous, so whenever the Enterprise is flying past impulse speed, the shields have to be up or the ship would literally be ripped to shreds by dust particles.

I also wonder about acceleration and deceleration with humans inside.  That's some massive G-Force we're talking about.

I also wonder what kind of radiation shield would be sufficient for a trip to Jupiter.  That damn thing throws off a lot of deadly stuff.

I love wondering about stuff like this because I don't pretend to know anything.  It's nice to be a neophyte sometimes.

 

Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin

http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism


deludedgod
Rational VIP!ScientistDeluded God
deludedgod's picture
Posts: 3221
Joined: 2007-01-28
User is offlineOffline
Quote: The deal is, when

Quote:

The deal is, when you travel at warp speed, even the smallest particle can be really dangerous

I don't think dust particles would matter very much considering that at warp speed the Lorentz-Fitzgerald contraction would turn the ship into a pancake. Shields cannot protect you from spacetime. 

"Physical reality” isn’t some arbitrary demarcation. It is defined in terms of what we can systematically investigate, directly or not, by means of our senses. It is preposterous to assert that the process of systematic scientific reasoning arbitrarily excludes “non-physical explanations” because the very notion of “non-physical explanation” is contradictory.

-Me

Books about atheism


Hambydammit
High Level DonorModeratorRRS Core Member
Hambydammit's picture
Posts: 8657
Joined: 2006-10-22
User is offlineOffline
Quote: I don't think dust

Quote:
I don't think dust particles would matter very much considering that at warp speed the Lorentz-Fitzgerald contraction would turn the ship into a pancake. Shields cannot protect you from spacetime.

LOL.  I have to find this video some dude made about Star Trek.  All about how whenever they run into an actual physics problem, they just make up a new word and say that's an explanation.  (Much like theists who try to define god, oddly enough...)

My question was about real spaceships and real high speed space travel.  Is there a point at which random space shit would become a real problem?  Is this technology potentially getting to that point?

 

 

Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin

http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism


wavefreak
Theist
wavefreak's picture
Posts: 1825
Joined: 2007-05-10
User is offlineOffline
Hambydammit wrote: I also

Hambydammit wrote:

I also wonder about acceleration and deceleration with humans inside. That's some massive G-Force we're talking about.

 

Actually, not really. 1G acceleration for 10 seconds gets you to 100m/sec. 1 year gets you to 70% the speed of light.


Hambydammit
High Level DonorModeratorRRS Core Member
Hambydammit's picture
Posts: 8657
Joined: 2006-10-22
User is offlineOffline
Quote: Actually, not

Quote:
Actually, not really. 1G acceleration for 10 seconds gets you to 100m/sec. 1 year gets you to 70% the speed of light.

Well, that's why I was not a physicist.

Anybody know about the dust question?

 

Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin

http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism