The Space Stuff thread

@Paul Black

thanks for the "Mythology" heads up.

i dont think 100 years is gonna cut it, isnt it going to take 80 yrs just to get someone to Mars for exploratory purposes ??

and Alpha Centauri, good ol "Lost in Space" fame is 4 light years away (25,000,000,000,000 km's, trillion) better pack some sandwiches and a thermos.....lol

rooscoota said:

@Paul Black

thanks for the "Mythology" heads up.

i dont think 100 years is gonna cut it, isnt it going to take 80 yrs just to get someone to Mars for exploratory purposes ??

and Alpha Centauri, good ol "Lost in Space" fame is 4 light years away (25,000,000,000,000 km's, trillion) better pack some sandwiches and a thermos.....lol

According to current theory it would take an infinite amount of energy to propel a spacecraft at the speed of light. I read that man might plan its first trip to another star system when the one way trip would be about 50 years. That is because that would be within one persons lifetime. A spacecraft that can accelerate up to 10% the speed of light might be able to reach Proxima Centauri b in about 50 years. In the remaining years of his life he might be able to explore that system and radio a report back to earth. That's right it would a one-way trip with no guarantee that he would survive the trip or be able to survive on any planet he finds.

BTW, 10% the speed of light or 18,600 miles per second is much faster than any technology could produce today. The fastest speed by a spacecraft is 364,660 mph, which was achieved by the Parker Solar Probe on November 20, 2021. That is only 0.05% of the speed of light.

A spacecraft would probably limit its acceleration to 1G at most. It would probably accelerate at 1G until it reached its maximum speed and then coast until its approached its destination. Then it would decelerate at 1G until it reached the orbit of its final destination.

Proxima Centauri b (or Proxima b) is the closest, potentially habitable exoplanet to Earth. It is orbiting in the habitable zone of the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, which is the closest star to the Sun and part of the triple star system Alpha Centauri. It is approximately 4.2 ly (1.3 pc) from Earth in the constellation Centaurus, making it, Proxima c, and Proxima d the closest known exoplanets to the Solar System.

Proxima Centauri b
Proxima Centauri b - Wikipedia

Paul Black said:

Hello @rooscoota,



With the vastness of space out there, there has to be life, some of which are in the early stages of evolution, and some that are far more advanced that we can actually comprehend.

Funny enough, I am just working my way through [ again ] the 'Mythology' episodes of the X-Files [ 69 episodes in my opinion and 1 film ].

Actually there is no guarantee of anything. Since we are the only known intelligent species known which gives one data point we have no way of even predicting how many other intelligent species there might be out there.

Years ago I read a Sci-Fi story about a distant time in the future where humans have explored most of the Milky Way. They found humans were the most advanced species in the galaxy. That didn't mean that there wouldn't be other intelligent species but just that we were the first. If that were actually be true then it would mean that intelligent life was something unique. Also, it may not be enough to be intelligent. That species would have to live long enough and avoid extinction by natural or not so natural forces to escape the bounds of their planet.

@A Guy

very cool.

Hi,
Entrance found on mars
Can you post it no line yet so no waiting
MSL 3466 MR