Text 28565, 98 rader
Skriven 2007-05-04 06:35:56 av John Hull (1:123/789.0)
  Kommentar till text 28559 av Mimi Gallandt (1:123/789.0)
Ärende: Muslems
===============
Mimi Gallandt -> John Hull wrote:
 MG> 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,
 MG> but
 VH>>>>> it won't b
 JH>>>>>> because we're desperately looking for a new home.  It will be
 MG> for
 VH>>>>> the exact
 JH>>>>>> same reason Columbus and all the rest sailed into the unknown
 MG> - a
 VH>>>>> search for
 JH>>>>>> profit. Just one area that promises astounding profits is
 MG> asteroid
 VH>>>>> mining.
 JH>>>>>> materials and exotic metals. Some of the planetary moons have
 MG> 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,
 MG> 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
 MG> 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
 MG> 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,
 MG> but the
 JH>> chemical signature is unmistakable.

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

Never said we would.  We look for those places because it helps us understand
how things work.  If we find a consistent percentage of Class M type planets
then we know for example that we are not just a fluke of nature, that there is
at least the potential for other life similar to us.  Obviously, we would send
some sort of robotic probe to such a place first.  Assuming we don't discover
warp drive first!  :-)

-- 
John
..
My Blog: Mad Gorilla's Jungle:      http://madgorilla.terapad.com/

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