Hypothetical Questions

[AKKuya]

For arguement's sake, let's say Einstein was correct with lightspeed and time differential between the space traveler and the people of Earth after the traveler left.  He postulated that one year at lightspeed would equal 100 years on the Earth.  And, technology in the future has no negative drawbacks.  Humans developed the means of instant communication between the planets over 4 light years distant.

In the year 2100 AD, humans have developed the means to travel at the speed of light safely in a spaceship.  The crew of the spaceship spends 4 years at light speed traveling to Alpha Cenaturi to land on a planet orbiting the twin star system.  For the travelers, it's 2104 AD roughly and on Earth it's roughly 2500 AD.

In the year 2200 AD, humans have improved on lightspeed technology to increase speed to twice that of light speed.  A new crew is launched with the improved spaceship to Alpha Centauri.  After roughly 2 years at twice the speed of light, the crew is roughly at 2202 AD and the on Earth it's roughly 2400 AD.

In the year 2300 AD, humans have doubled the lightspeed technology again to 4 times the speed of light.  Another crew is sent to Alpha Centauri with the improved spaceship.  After one year traveling there, the crew would be around 2301 AD and the Earth would be at 2400 AD.

Now for the questions. 

Which human crew would arrive first on a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri?

Which crew be the first to communicate with Earth?

[RTHolmes]

he was right - GPS wouldnt work if he was wrong

FTL is not possible so there are no solutions for your questions, its about how close you get to c.

as an example if you accelerate at 1g to the midpoint, then decelerate at 1g to a stop it takes about 3.5y to make the 4.2ly trip. just under 6y has elapsed on earth, and the fastest you go is 0.95c. fuel/payload ratio is 37.

double the acceleration to 2g and its a 2.3y trip, 5y on earth, 0.98c max. fuel/payload ratio is now 111.

the nearest stars are not really that far away. (unless you walk it, then it takes 1.5bn years)

[VonMessa]

To answer these questions, it would have to be assumed that faster-than-light travel is even possible.

[RngFndr]

I don't see humans physiology as able to withstand acceleration to those levels..
Even the generation of power would create effects that would kill us, long
before we even came close.. They already know that prolonged time in Zero G
deteriorates the human body at a cellular and genetic level.. No matter how
much you exercise, your body is damaged from it....

So there are two trains of thought to remedy this..

One is genetic, DNA Splicing, like the "Spider Goats".. To "Create" a humanoid
species better able to tolerate or even thrive during the Extended time in space..
Policy statements actually describe a "splitting" of the Human species, into separate
lines of evolution..

The other is Technological, such as the mating of Man to Machine.. New "Wetware"
interfaces with external hardware.. Like having an interface port, on a tag hanging out
from behind your ear.. Data displayed directly to your optic nerve.. Darpa is already
working on this.. And that is just the stuff that they are letting "slip out"..

The societal programming of the young is already underway.. Notice all the movies
and TV shows, like Avatar, Iron Man, Alphas, Superhuman, GIjoe, sector9, I robot,on and on..
This groupthink training will intensify.. Resulting in the future, it being Trendy and cool, to
be wetwired with the new "Cool Tech"..

Creepy stuff to be sure.. And it's closer than we think..

[zack1234]

It all depends on FSP and lag in my opinion.

[VonMessa]

I don't see humans physiology as able to withstand acceleration to those levels..
Even the generation of power would create effects that would kill us, long
before we even came close.. They already know that prolonged time in Zero G
deteriorates the human body at a cellular and genetic level.. No matter how
much you exercise, your body is damaged from it....

So there are two trains of thought to remedy this..

One is genetic, DNA Splicing, like the "Spider Goats".. To "Create" a humanoid
species better able to tolerate or even thrive during the Extended time in space..
Policy statements actually describe a "splitting" of the Human species, into separate
lines of evolution..

The other is Technological, such as the mating of Man to Machine.. New "Wetware"
interfaces with external hardware.. Like having an interface port, on a tag hanging out
from behind your ear.. Data displayed directly to your optic nerve.. Darpa is already
working on this.. And that is just the stuff that they are letting "slip out"..

The societal programming of the young is already underway.. Notice all the movies
and TV shows, like Avatar, Iron Man, Alphas, Superhuman, GIjoe, sector9, I robot,on and on..
This groupthink training will intensify.. Resulting in the future, it being Trendy and cool, to
be wetwired with the new "Cool Tech"..

Creepy stuff to be sure.. And it's closer than we think..

Iron Man - March, 1963

G.I. Joe - 1964

I, Robot - Written in 1950

Avatar - never understood the hype beyond the technology used to make it

Alphas and Superhuman(and any shows like them) - A rip-off of X-Men (September 1963)

Perhaps you meant District 9?

I blame Stan Lee  

[Nypsy]

If we have the technology to travel faster then light I believe we will also have the technology to overcome the related problems with g forces during accel and de-cel

[smoe]

Actually traveling at warp speed means that, yes, you are traveling a warp speed, but not really. The theory of traveling faster than light speed is to create a wave (probably some kind of cool name, geeks plz help me out here) in front of a space ship. The ship follows behind and controls the wave. The only problem is this takes way too much power to even attempt any such feat. Trying to generate this much power may actually trigger a Big Bang if not done correctly. As you may guess the aftermath of a Big Bang wouldn't leave a whole lot of evidence of past civilizations, so we may never until we are blown away by the next Big Bang.

BTW - I'll take the credit for first hypothesizing how Big Bangs may be triggered.

[RTHolmes]

I don't see humans physiology as able to withstand acceleration to those levels..

read my example above: the nearest star is a 3.5 year journey at 1g. which is what you are experiencing right now.

[RngFndr]

I think, I also heard..
Einsteins special relativity equation, (As interpreted by a real Physicist)
says that the closer you come to the speed of light, the greater the
power required to accelerate.. And it rises exponentially until it is infinite..

"infinite power" required.. And so, Impossible anyway.. 

[RngFndr]

Iron Man - March, 1963

G.I. Joe - 1964

I, Robot - Written in 1950

Avatar - never understood the hype beyond the technology used to make it

Alphas and Superhuman(and any shows like them) - A rip-off of X-Men (September 1963)

Perhaps you meant District 9?

I blame Stan Lee  

Yeah District9, sorry it sucked anyway..

[VonMessa]

Actually traveling at warp speed means that, yes, you are traveling a warp speed, but not really. The theory of traveling faster than light speed is to create a wave (probably some kind of cool name, geeks plz help me out here) in front of a space ship. The ship follows behind and controls the wave. The only problem is this takes way too much power to even attempt any such feat. Trying to generate this much power may actually trigger a Big Bang if not done correctly. As you may guess the aftermath of a Big Bang wouldn't leave a whole lot of evidence of past civilizations, so we may never until we are blown away by the next Big Bang.

BTW - I'll take the credit for first hypothesizing how Big Bangs may be triggered.

Warp space-time.

Mark "A" and "B" on a piece of paper at opposite sides.  Draw a straight line between them.  Usually the fastest distance between two points.

Now fold paper in half until A and B touch.  Now they are much closer together.

This is a VERY crude and elementary way of explaining it.

[VonMessa]

Yeah District9, sorry it sucked anyway..

Yes, yes it did.  I literally asked for my money back.

[RTHolmes]

(As interpreted by a real Physicist)

T = time elapsed for astronauts = (c/a) asinh[at/c] = (c/a) acosh[(ad/c^2) + 1] = 2x 1.76y = 3.53y

t = time elapsed on earth = (c/a) sinh[aT/c] =  sqrt[(d/c)^2 + 2d/a] = 2x 2.91y = 5.83y

</real physics>

[ozrocker]

2 weeks



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