31–40 of 330 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
need to get small fusion reactors online, then many options blossom. And work out safe systems for hibernation, maybe rotate the crew in shifts Oh yeah this is the stuff of science fiction coming to life
If we had a probe in orbit around this planet, do we have a way to stream data across 48 light years with any kind of reliability?
We should build a solar lens telescope. By the time we're ready to use it, we'll have a bunch of candidates to point it at.
We should build a solar lens telescope. By the time we're ready to use it, we'll have a bunch of candidates to point it at.
In theory we can then get 100 meter resolution on alien worlds. That would be insane.
Turning off the labels, aliens would probably assume that the world is naturally full of green stuff that is dealing with some strange grey infestation.
We should build a solar lens telescope. By the time we're ready to use it, we'll have a bunch of candidates to point it at.
Edit: My point is that you can't "build" such a thing and later point it somewhere-- you have to fly the camera part of the "telescope" about 3 times as far as voyager 1 went, exactly opposite of your observation target, and it is not gonna stay there for too long either.
As long as we improve rapidly at both drone-building and exoplanet target selection, it is not really gonna be worthwhile because both the drone hardware and the target will be hopelessly obsolete before we even get halfway to the observation point.
48 light years is in our back yard. Close enough that we could probably develop a probe to get there in the next few centuries and check it out. What are the current popular candidates for propulsion systems capable of accelerating to near the speed of light?
If we design a probe that travels at speed of light it would reach there in 48 years and it would send back what it's seen after another 48 years. It would take multiple generations of scientists to work on this project. The longest we have worked on, are Voyager projects. Can we expect that level of commitments from our governments or corporations? Voyager became successful because people could see distant futures.…
> The gas detected in the atmosphere is helium, which would not be able to support life Nonsense. You mean not able to support terrestrial life.
I was skeptical about that as well so I googled it and: >Helium cannot support life because it is a chemically inert noble gas. It does not form the complex, stable molecular structures (like carbon chains) required for biology. Unlike oxygen, it cannot be used by living organisms for cellular respiration to generate energy, making it an asphyxiant. However, maybe we are projecting our current understanding of biolog…
So the question becomes: How much of that atmosphere is helium?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
need to get small fusion reactors online, then many options blossom. And work out safe systems for hibernation, maybe rotate the crew in shifts Oh yeah this is the stuff of science fiction coming to life
If we had a probe in orbit around this planet, do we have a way to stream data across 48 light years with any kind of reliability?
Actually, it's a great question. Even if we have single photon sensitivity detectors, just what kind of power would a laser need? Or would it be some other area of the emf spectrum? Or some other kind of communication? Sci fi ventures into gravitational waves sometimes
> The gas detected in the atmosphere is helium, which would not be able to support life Nonsense. You mean not able to support terrestrial life.
Helium is a noble gas. It forms no bonds and is unable to produce even a simple molecule, let along the complex ones needed for life.
We should build a solar lens telescope. By the time we're ready to use it, we'll have a bunch of candidates to point it at.
The wild thing is that, if I understand it correctly, if you were floating in a spacesuit at the same spot you'd also see that resolution (likely highly distorted) with the naked eye.
…would you? The lensing would occur right at the apparent surface of the sun.
We should build a solar lens telescope. By the time we're ready to use it, we'll have a bunch of candidates to point it at.
https://www.nasa.gov/general/direct-multipixel-imaging-and-s...