Since I don´t remeber how lightyear goes, was it like what it takes the light to travel in a year? Like, what´s the distance? Just theorycrafting I bet it will take a few generations before mankind is ready for travelling the stars, and as an estimate with technology of nowadays, the pioneer crew better prepare for breeding, because otherwise I don´t think the crew will be able to live in space long enough to reach the star system.
Generation ships have problems of their own. Look at the changes that have happened in just the last few generations on this planet. Within 3 or 4 generations the descendants may lose knowledge of the original objective, start some kind of weird doomsday religion, rise up against the older generation or any number of other unforeseen difficulty.
Then there's the morality of it. Who's to say that the offspring of the pioneers will even want to continue? What if they want to go back? How many children end up with exactly the same goals and desires as their parents? Those pioneers would not be allowing any choice in the matter. I personally think it would be supremely arrogant to force your objectives on your progeny like that.
For those reasons I think some kind of stasis or hibernation technology would be a better alternative.
Generation ships have problems of their own. Look at the changes that have happened in just the last few generations on this planet. Within 3 or 4 generations the descendants may lose knowledge of the original objective, start some kind of weird doomsday religion, rise up against the older generation or any number of other unforeseen difficulty.
Then there's the morality of it. Who's to say that the offspring of the pioneers will even want to continue? What if they want to go back? How many children end up with exactly the same goals and desires as their parents? Those pioneers would not be allowing any choice in the matter. I personally think it would be supremely arrogant to force your objectives on your progeny like that.
For those reasons I think some kind of stasis or hibernation technology would be a better alternative.
I wasn't given the choice to be born in this world either, what's your point. It's not like I had an option to end up living on a planet in some other galaxy. People deal with the reality they're given. If the colonists believe the long term benefits will outweigh the temporary negative ones, that's not much of a sacrifice to make. Nor is it immoral.
You don't have a choice right now. This is it. If you found out your parents chose to force you to live out your life on a spaceship instead of on your home planet might you resent not having a choice? Step back and look at it from that angle. There's a very good chance your children won't be thanking you for that!
If you found out your parents chose to force you to live out your life on a spaceship instead of on your home planet might you resent not having a choice? There's a very good chance your children won't be thanking you for that!
When my parents left Europe for Canada years ago, taking me along as a toddler, they had a choice between here and Australia. I don't hold any resentments or regrets about their decision, I've lived my life using the cards that were dealt to me. And yes I do thank them, just for giving me life. The same would hold true of someone born on a spaceship.
@Belanos You can't compare them. A spaceship would be a depressing metal prison with nothing to look forward to, and nothing for your children to look forward to. Your entire purpose is to have a child, teach it your job, and then kill yourself so you don't waste too many resources.
Generation ships have problems of their own. Look at the changes that have happened in just the last few generations on this planet. Within 3 or 4 generations the descendants may lose knowledge of the original objective, start some kind of weird doomsday religion, rise up against the older generation or any number of other unforeseen difficulty.
Then there's the morality of it. Who's to say that the offspring of the pioneers will even want to continue? What if they want to go back? How many children end up with exactly the same goals and desires as their parents? Those pioneers would not be allowing any choice in the matter. I personally think it would be supremely arrogant to force your objectives on your progeny like that.
For those reasons I think some kind of stasis or hibernation technology would be a better alternative.
I think sending out a generational ship might be ethically sound only in a "Noah's Ark" world cataclysm kind of context. That is, it might be the right thing to do as a desperate "Hail Mary" to save humanity if the Earth's ability to support life was immediately threatened, in a context of certain annihilation.
The threat of another mass extinction is why we should at least get a probe out there to the new solar system. We need the information about whether we have another place to go if needed.
You can't compare them. A spaceship would be a depressing metal prison with nothing to look forward to, and nothing for your children to look forward to. Your entire purpose is to have a child, teach it your job, and then kill yourself so you don't waste too many resources.
You're obviously a glass half empty kind of person. Why would a spaceship necessarily be a "depressing metal prison"? That would all depend on how it was designed. I've seem some artist's concepts, based on actual engineering and biological principles, where the "Ark" ship was anything but depressing. It would have to contain a fully functioning ecosystem after all. And they certainly would have something to look forward to, the establishment of a new home for mankind. That would be a huge legacy for anyone born during the flight.
Only 3 of them MAY have earth like climates and if they do, there is a high chance that it has life on them. Yea we won't be migrating to any of them anytime soon, but we should start our practice of intergalactic subjugation now so we don't look amateurish to another planet.
Indeed, why would they allow us to build a base on their planet if we keep destroying ours?
So many people presume that non-terrestrial civilizations must be more advanced than we are when there is absolutely no evidence of this whatsoever. They could be significantly more technologically advanced or they could just now be learning how to make their equivalents of bread and beer in their early agricultural period.
THANK YOU, I'M GLAD I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS THIS!
Only 3 of them MAY have earth like climates and if they do, there is a high chance that it has life on them.
And if any of them do have life, that doesn't necessarily mean that there will be intelligent life. Even on this planet, that has been a very recent development.
Only 3 of them MAY have earth like climates and if they do, there is a high chance that it has life on them.
And if any of them do have life, that doesn't necessarily mean that there will be intelligent life. Even on this planet, that has been a very recent development.
Of course, life on then could quite literally still be in the form of single celled organisms, or they could actually be our equals, or it could even be something that will cause us to have to rewrite the requisite/definition of life itself.
We still have too little information about the 7 planets to make any definitive statements.
Someone do correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to recall that the two Voyagers left our solar system with speeds around 40,000 mph after multiple slingshots.
Someone do correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to recall that the two Voyagers left our solar system with speeds around 40,000 mph after multiple slingshots.
Those are using pretty old technology though. As I understand it, our current technology theoretically has the potential of achieving up to about 20 - 25% of the speed of light, though we still have a ways to go before we can reach those speeds. That's just considering drawing board possibilities, we haven't actually developed the systems yet. If we can, the trip to the Trappist system will take about 200 years.
I think we should practice and test hibernation methods and reenact a certain Kubrick movie... Except the AI should be replaced with a bash script using 64-bits unix time clock counting down using the date command... Because, honestly, it's way safer that way.
Someone do correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to recall that the two Voyagers left our solar system with speeds around 40,000 mph after multiple slingshots.
Those are using pretty old technology though. As I understand it, our current technology theoretically has the potential of achieving up to about 20 - 25% of the speed of light, though we still have a ways to go before we can reach those speeds. That's just considering drawing board possibilities, we haven't actually developed the systems yet. If we can, the trip to the Trappist system will take about 200 years.
Oh, absolutely. But the question was about the fastest actual spacecraft, and I believe the Voyagers still hold the speed record.
Someone do correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to recall that the two Voyagers left our solar system with speeds around 40,000 mph after multiple slingshots.
Those are using pretty old technology though. As I understand it, our current technology theoretically has the potential of achieving up to about 20 - 25% of the speed of light, though we still have a ways to go before we can reach those speeds. That's just considering drawing board possibilities, we haven't actually developed the systems yet. If we can, the trip to the Trappist system will take about 200 years.
Oh, absolutely. But the question was about the fastest actual spacecraft, and I believe the Voyagers still hold the speed record.
According to the Guinness World Records, the following man-made space objects have the fastest travel times.
Helios 2 was moving away from Earth at a speed of 356,040 km/h (221,232 mph). (non-active) Helios 1 was moving away from Earth at a speed of 346,320 km/h (215,193 mph). (still active)
According to the Guinness World Records, the following man-made space objects have the fastest travel times.
Helios 2 was moving away from Earth at a speed of 356,040 km/h (221,232 mph). (non-active) Helios 1 was moving away from Earth at a speed of 346,320 km/h (215,193 mph). (still active)
This is correct, but the Helios probes were built to study our own sun and achieved those speeds by being pulled in by the sun's gravity. I was thinking only in terms of craft directed towards exiting our system (for interstellar travel), and I just Googled the information and indeed the Voyagers do still hold that record, although the New Horizons spacecraft will depart our system next year with a significantly higher velocity.
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Then there's the morality of it. Who's to say that the offspring of the pioneers will even want to continue? What if they want to go back? How many children end up with exactly the same goals and desires as their parents? Those pioneers would not be allowing any choice in the matter. I personally think it would be supremely arrogant to force your objectives on your progeny like that.
For those reasons I think some kind of stasis or hibernation technology would be a better alternative.
You can't compare them. A spaceship would be a depressing metal prison with nothing to look forward to, and nothing for your children to look forward to. Your entire purpose is to have a child, teach it your job, and then kill yourself so you don't waste too many resources.
The threat of another mass extinction is why we should at least get a probe out there to the new solar system. We need the information about whether we have another place to go if needed.
We still have too little information about the 7 planets to make any definitive statements.
While I don't know the fastest spacecraft we possess, I do know it's no where near light speed.
Helios 2 was moving away from Earth at a speed of 356,040 km/h (221,232 mph). (non-active)
Helios 1 was moving away from Earth at a speed of 346,320 km/h (215,193 mph). (still active)
Helios 2 was moving away from Earth at a speed of 356,040 km/h (221,232 mph). (non-active)
Helios 1 was moving away from Earth at a speed of 346,320 km/h (215,193 mph). (still active)
This is correct, but the Helios probes were built to study our own sun and achieved those speeds by being pulled in by the sun's gravity. I was thinking only in terms of craft directed towards exiting our system (for interstellar travel), and I just Googled the information and indeed the Voyagers do still hold that record, although the New Horizons spacecraft will depart our system next year with a significantly higher velocity.