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Author Topic:   Interstellar Travel - Possibilities and Human Physiology
shalamabobbi
Member (Idle past 2849 days)
Posts: 397
Joined: 01-10-2009


Message 17 of 63 (504096)
03-24-2009 4:06 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Sarawak
03-23-2009 7:39 PM


These issues are studied by NASA in a rigorous manner. This is the reason (one of them anyhow) for the centrifuge project on the space station etc, although the presence of the centrifuge created enormous difficulty with maintenance of the microgravity environment. I am not sure where all that is now and I wasn't directly involved with it anyhow.
The following links cover many of the issues involved. The future possibility of manipulating space itself as a drive mechanism seemed intriguing. At any rate we can calculate the energy requirements if it becomes possible and it isn't cheap. It would require the consumption of one of our largest planets basically. So even if theoretically possible it may never become technologically possible.
Nano technology, when that takes off would be the most hopeful route to surmounting some of the technological issues of utilizing the energy of planets. But consuming a major planet would maybe throw the rest into chaotic orbits etc, so there are massive problems and issues to resolve.
Interstellar travel - Wikipedia
Is Warp Drive Real? | NASA
Warp Drive and Cloaking Devices: Not Just Science Fiction Anymore? - Universe Today
http://www.physorg.com/news8817.html
Centauri Dreams — Imagining and Planning Interstellar Exploration
The problem of not knowing what we'll find in terms of planets to colonize seems one of the bigger issues.
Imagine having come to our solar system without our earth existing.
Mars isn't so bad but what if venus is the best planet available?
Boilogical terraforming would be too slow, but if we master and can control nano technology ala the borg capacity, maybe things like rapid terraforming can become possible.
I don't even want to think about the issues of creating a biologically compatible ecosystem. Talk about complex! We would likely have the capacity to create lifeforms from DNA seeds by then so removing the requirement of dragging along actual species, etc.

This message is a reply to:
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shalamabobbi
Member (Idle past 2849 days)
Posts: 397
Joined: 01-10-2009


Message 38 of 63 (504254)
03-25-2009 7:13 PM
Reply to: Message 37 by Sarawak
03-25-2009 7:03 PM


Sarawak writes:
What's the fastest speed any of our space junk has attained?
quote:
We have previously written about two vehicles called Helios launched to study the Sun during the 1970s. Both of these probes attained maximum speeds of around 150,000 mph (250,000 km/h) at closest approach to the Sun in their highly elliptical orbits. Helios 2 was slightly faster than its twin craft, and this probe still holds the speed record as not only the fastest spacecraft but also the fastest manmade object in history.
reference

This message is a reply to:
 Message 37 by Sarawak, posted 03-25-2009 7:03 PM Sarawak has not replied

  
shalamabobbi
Member (Idle past 2849 days)
Posts: 397
Joined: 01-10-2009


Message 49 of 63 (504453)
03-28-2009 4:00 PM


500 million years left on earth..
There are apparently various estimates of the time left for life on earth due to the changing sun luminosity. Here is a wiki article that summarizes some of the issues. In the first part, not quoted, it gives us 1.5 billion years. But later other estimates are that we have another 500 million years. So the red giant phase will occur long after life has vanished.
quote:
The future of the planet is closely tied to that of the Sun. As a result of the steady accumulation of helium ash at the Sun's core, the star's total luminosity will slowly increase. The luminosity of the Sun will grow by 10 percent over the next 1.1 Gyr (1.1 billion years) and by 40% over the next 3.5 Gyr.[41] Climate models indicate that the rise in radiation reaching the Earth is likely to have dire consequences, including the possible loss of the planet's oceans.[42]
The Earth's increasing surface temperature will accelerate the inorganic CO2 cycle, reducing its concentration to the lethal levels for plants (10 ppm for C4 photosynthesis) in 900 million years. The lack of vegetation will result in the loss of oxygen in the atmosphere, so animal life will become extinct within several million more years.[43] But even if the Sun were eternal and stable, the continued internal cooling of the Earth would have resulted in a loss of much of its atmosphere and oceans due to reduced volcanism.[44] After another billion years all surface water will have disappeared[17] and the mean global temperature will reach 70C.[43] The Earth is expected to be effectively habitable for about another 500 million years.[45]
reference section future

Replies to this message:
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