Posted on 10/29/2010 2:27:01 PM PDT by Dallas59
The director of NASA's Ames Research Center in California casually let slip mention of the 100-Year Starship recently, a new program funded by the super-secret government agency, DARPA. In a talk at San Francisco's Long Conversation conference, Simon “Pete” Worden said DARPA has $1M to spend, plus another $100,000 from NASA itself, for the program, which will initially develop a new kind of propulsion engine that will take us to Mars or beyond.
There's only one problem: The astronauts won't come back.
The 100-year ship would leave Earth with the intention of colonizing a planet, but it would likely be a one-way trip because of the time it takes to travel 35 million miles. That’s a daunting prospect, partly because of the ethical dilemma, and partly because it may be the only recourse.
"What psychological challenges should we anticipate in those who volunteer in good faith and with great courage, yet find themselves confronting misgivings or loneliness or feelings of rage or beset with mental illness?" asked Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist and member of the Fox News Medical A-Team.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
It might take up to 2 years to get to Mars. The mission would continue as long as the astronaut was alive, which could be 100 years. The trek would only be a small part of the mission.... maybe...
“Can we volunteer people for this one way mission..maybe like the entire cast of The View, Jersey Shore and the Daily Show?
I believe a sizable contingent of WH czars and staff, not to mention an ex-POTUS, will be seeking work in about 2 years.
Cool, um, neato to observe, I probably wouldn't want to be any where
near it, especially on any planets.
There is one contmeplated means of traveling between the stars that might work at present. Using a pusher plate secured to the rear of the ship you drop nuclear warheads out the back and set them off at say several minute intervals. Theoretically you could reach about 10% of the speed of light. Of course radiation is a problem and shockwave absorption.
There was a pilot for a new TV series, that didn’t get picked up a while back in 2008 maybe, where they used this type of propulsion after they had started to leave the solar system.
On a pop culture aside, I would like to see a scifi series based on near future technology. A generational ship to a distant star system, where the ship carried a small cities worth of people and stories revolved around human interaction in such a circumstance. Say a five season arch with multiple generations of characters. Please no lame excuses for leaving like global warming, the suns to hot, pollution!!! How about mankind wants to explore and colonize the universe, for adventure and profit like Christopher Columbus, Megellan.
Does anyone here remember how Harcourt Fenton Mudd dealt with his space bride?
You mean he might actualy end up doing something positive with his life?
"The historical records indicate that your elapsed time calculation is in error."
Imagine one Muslim on the crew.
By the time they get to Mars, either everyone has converted, or all but one crew member has had their throats slit.
That’s 0bama’s “Muslim outreach” in action.
The pusher-plate nuke ship was the Orion project. Projected speed is about .1c - WAY fast. Unfortunately Carter signed a treaty with the USSR that banned nukes in space and thus Orion. The excuse? We didn’t want nuclear armed satellite in orbit. The reality? Only the US had the industrial base to implement Orion, and the Soviets (and their rool Carter) didn’t want to see us reach Mars, other planets, and even the stars without them. Otherwise an exception for Orion could have easily been added.
I don’t know but there would not be enough genetic diversity there without continually sending more and more people.
rool = tool PIMF
The $1 million buys a couple guys from DARPA an office and some good “Prop 19” so they can sit around saying, “Dude, we could so build a spaceship that would, like, go all the way to Alpha Centauri.”
If we don’t abort our future development with the current socialist detour chances are we could send out this 100 year star ship then in 40 years overtake it with a translight vessel.
Really? I think that Depends....
I recall that an African-American perished in both the Challenger and Columbia disasters. Maybe NASA stands for “Negroes Ain’t supposed to Be Astronauts.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Hard to say from where I sit.
Way off on my speed, was from eronious memory. Still lets see 10 light years divided by .1c = 100 years, Generational ship seems a posibility, but with a large enough number of people to allow controlled ie ‘limited’ procreation and a vibrant society to be maintained onboard.
The Soviet Union no longer exists so technically the treaty is null and void if we say so, correct?
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