Text 28559, 90 rader
Skriven 2007-05-04 00:17:35 av Mimi Gallandt (1:123/789.0)
  Kommentar till text 28549 av John Hull (1:123/789.0)
Ärende: Muslems
===============
John Hull -> Mimi Gallandt wrote:
 JH> Mimi Gallandt -> John Hull wrote:
 MG>> John Hull -> VERN HUMPHREY wrote:
 JH>>> VERN HUMPHREY -> JOHN HULL wrote:
 TA>>>>>>> How do you plan we escape this dying planet to our new home?

 VH>>>>>> I plan to have the planet outlive me by several years, of
 VH>>>> course. :-)


 JH>>>>> Oh, we'll move out into space and visit other worlds alright, but
 VH>>>> it won't b
 JH>>>>> because we're desperately looking for a new home.  It will be for
 VH>>>> the exact
 JH>>>>> same reason Columbus and all the rest sailed into the unknown - a
 VH>>>> search for
 JH>>>>> profit. Just one area that promises astounding profits is asteroid
 VH>>>> mining.
 JH>>>>> materials and exotic metals. Some of the planetary moons have huge
 VH>>>> seas of
 JH>>>>> ammonia or methane which could be used to power our space craft
 MG>> for
 VH>>>> hundreds
 JH>>>>> years.  And right behind those who go out to do that will be the
 VH>>>> settlers, t
 JH>>>>> builders, the pioneers.  Etc., etc.

 JH>>>>> I won't live to see it, but it will happen.

 VH>>>> John, imagine we're going to the newly-discovered planet some 10
 MG>> light
 VH>>>> years away. At an acceleration rate of 1G, how long would it take
 JH>>> us to
 VH>>>> get there?
 JH>>> I haven't a clue.  Velocity is cumulative in zero G under constant
 JH>>> acceleration, so you have to know how big the engine is, and what
 MG>> its
 JH>>> thrust is to figure velocity.  In any case, you would have to
 MG>> flip ends
 JH>>> about halfway and begin decelerating at the same rate to maintain
 JH>>> constant gravity.  Starting from lunar orbit would also lower the
 JH>>> inertial impulse you had to overcome at the start.

 JH>>> There's a formula you can use to figure such things, but I don't
 MG>> have
 JH>>> it.  Suffice to say it would take awhile.  But, from the way you
 MG>> asked
 JH>>> the question, it is obvious you assume that it will never be done
 JH>>> because of the time factor.  You have no way of knowing that, or of
 JH>>> knowing whether or not we will ever be able to achieve FTL
 MG>> travel. There
 JH>>> is a rather large group of theoretical physicists who think it is
 JH>>> possible to "fold space" in order to go from A to B nearly
 JH>>> instantaneously by utilizing curved space.

 JH>>> Whether we do or not, however, isn't what MY point was.  I was only
 JH>>> talking about our solar system in the near term, and it is
 MG>> unlikely I
 JH>>> will live long enough to see anything beyond the first manned
 MG>> Mars landing.

 MG>> Of course both the science and math required for this problem are moot
 MG>> as we haven't discovered a planet other than this one which can
 MG>> sustain human life.

 JH> Actually, that's incorrect.  We have found a couple dozen stars with
 JH> planets, and the preliminary spectral scans indicate that they are
 JH> so-called Class M planets.  Obviously, they don't have details, but the
 JH> chemical signature is unmistakable.

It doesn't seem logical to me to set off in space in search of a "maybe we can
survive there" planet until we know we can survive there. YMMV

-- 
L'Chaim

Mimi

WORDS TO LIVE BY-
“Polios have a certain advantage over the able-bodied when it comes to aging….
We do not confuse the quality of our life with the quality of our tennis game.
We know that happiness is not dependent upon activity nor is meaningful defined
by trophies. A meaningful life may be hampered—but need not be defined—by pain
or disability.ö
—Hugh G. Gallagher, 1998

mimigalATcoxDOTnet

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