The Future of Space Travel? (Earth, stars, light, black hole)
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Found this really awesome video. Thought it would be cool to post it here. I would like to know what you think of the video and if the technologies in the video are do able.
Looked like some scramjets, followed by some kind of rocket devices.. May get us into orbit or even to Mars but thats about it, never get us to even the nearest of stars.
The only way we (as in a manned-mission) will be able to get to some place like Alpha Centauri A/B and back in their life time is through a constant acceleration of 1 G. The human body can withstand 6+ G for very short durations, but for a multi-year space flight 1 G is about the maximum constant acceleration.
At a constant acceleration of 1 G it would take just over two years, and reach a distance of 0.236 light years, before reaching 90% the speed of light. It would then take another two years, and a distance of 0.236 light years, to constantly decelerate at a rate of 1 G. The total travel time would be 8.331 years to reach Alpha Centauri A/B, plus another 8.331 years to get back. At least from Earth's perspective. From the perspective of those aboard the space craft only 6.556 years would have elapsed, each way, due to general relativity.
The biggest problem with constant 1 G acceleration is the amount of fuel. Four years of continually accelerating/decelerating at 1 G will require a very large quantity of fuel. Ion propulsion looks to be the most fuel efficient, presently, but it will be awhile before an Ion Engine will be developed that can produce that much thrust.
That may prove to be the only viable solution. We know no object within space-time can travel faster than the speed of light, but we also know that space-time itself is not limited to the speed of light. However, it would require a vast amount of power to warp space-time. So far only stars and black holes have the mass sufficient enough to warp space-time.
So far only stars and black holes have the mass sufficient enough to warp space-time.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the warping of space-time effectively gravity itself, and therefore that anything with mass, then, does indeed warp space-time to some degree? Or am I thinking of something else?
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At a constant acceleration of 1 G it would take just over two years, and reach a distance of 0.236 light years, before reaching 90% the speed of light. It would then take another two years, and a distance of 0.236 light years, to constantly decelerate at a rate of 1 G. The total travel time would be 8.331 years to reach Alpha Centauri A/B, plus another 8.331 years to get back. At least from Earth's perspective. From the perspective of those aboard the space craft only 6.556 years would have elapsed, each way, due to general relativity.
I have a very difficult time with time dilation. I know it has been tested, but something just keeps telling me over and over again that it is wrong. Crazy stuff it is!!!
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the warping of space-time effectively gravity itself, and therefore that anything with mass, then, does indeed warp space-time to some degree? Or am I thinking of something else?
Yes, anything with mass has some effect on space-time.
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Originally Posted by cjg5
I have a very difficult time with time dilation. I know it has been tested, but something just keeps telling me over and over again that it is wrong. Crazy stuff it is!!!
Time is also effected by gravity in addition to the warping of space. Clocks on the surface of Earth run slower than the exact same clock in space. This has to be factored into the GPS satellites or they would always be giving us the wrong location. The more mass an object has, the more time is affected.
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