Space travel? How far can we go?

[phoenix_ca]

Whoa whoa, travel between stars is whole other scale compared to travel between our planets. If the nearest star is your neighbour's front door, going to Neptune is barely taking a step outside your home. O.o "Taking a while" could be something on the order of thousands or tens of thousands of years without expending a LOT of fuel with a conventional rocket.

[Cowzgomooz]

Whoa whoa, travel between stars is whole other scale compared to travel between our planets. If the nearest star is your neighbour's front door, going to Neptune is barely taking a step outside your home. O.o "Taking a while" could be something on the order of thousands or tens of thousands of years without expending a LOT of fuel with a conventional rocket.

I said that I may be wrong and anyways taking a while I should have said it would take a lot longer because thats what I meant.

.

[Whptheenah]

Wince you're referencing string theory, I think and adaptation o a popular addage regarding quantum mechanics is in order:

If you think you understand string theory, you don't understand string theory.

I'm not even in uni yet, but it was just a hypothesis:

1) Come up with hypothesis (what I did)

2) Test hypothesis (What you probably did)

Outcome 1) Hypothesis works

Outcome 2) Hypothesis doesn't work (the outcome)

3) If outcome 2, locate flaw in hypothesis. Edit hypothesis and repeat phase 2 (what you neglected to do)

4) If outcome 1, use newly discovered law to your advantage (our common goal here)

Remember: One who makes no mistakes is one who makes nothing.

[phoenix_ca]

*sigh* The idea that science requires one to create preconceived notions (hypotheses) before doing research is a fundamental error in high school education. That structure gets tossed out right quick when you get to undergraduate work (or at least I should hope so). It's limiting.

But I don't see how that has anything to do with what I said earlier. O.o

[Cydonia]

If the Alcubierre drive is proven to be a feasible method of travel, it's possible that the excitement that comes from exploration will push people toward exploring our solar system (at least). Big if there.

If we don't kill ourselves (that's another big if), we're going to go eventually. It's the only choice for the continued survival of our species.

Funny that you should mention the Alcubierre drive, there have been lots of exciting developments in research & development on that of late:

Why move your spacecraft, when you can simply distort space-time?

I'd Jeb would love to fly a craft like that.

Of course the idea does have some problems we need to overcome:

There is nothing like building one theoretical hypothesis upon another to support or qualify an equally abstract conceptual premise. In fact the implementation of faster-than-light (FTL) interstellar travel via traversable wormholes, warp drives, or other space-time modification schemes literally involves the engineering of negative density (or nothing) in space-time via very specialized local geometries.

An analysis of these hypothetical ideals, via Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity field equations plus the resultant equations of state, demonstrate that such geometries require the use of “exotic†matter in order to induce the requisite FTL spacetime modification. Exotic matter is generally defined as the symmetrical antithesis in position, action, or character of positive energy density, expressing negative matter which possesses negative energy density. Not that negative density energy does not exist; it is just difficult to understand and more difficult to produce even in infinitesimally small quantities. Exotic matter might be considered just another aspect of the unification of the dark force; that combination of dark matter and exotic matter that accounts for dark energy and negative energy density. Dark matter on one hand only interacts by way of gravity and the weak atomic force. Dark matter does not interact via either the strong atomic force or electromagnetism, but the concept of exotic matter does. In this way, a complementary physics can be applied without violating the general theory of relativity.

Alcubierre Drive

One example of such a theory, that will not violate relativity, involves actually allowing space to carry a craft at faster than light speeds. Imagine going surfing. The wave carries the surfer through the water. The surfer only has to maintain his balance and allow the wave to do the rest. Using this type of transport, known as the Alcubierre drive (named after the physicist, Miguel Alcubierre), the traveler would actually not actually be traveling. Instead, the space craft would be sheltered from the effects of acceleration within a "warp bubble" that would allow spacetime to move around the craft and cheat the laws of general relativity. In this way, it is said that the space of spacetime itself carries the bubble at light speed, while the space craft remains in a state of rest within its own spacetime.

Even though the Alcubierre drive does not directly violate the laws of physics, it does have difficulties that may be impossible to overcome. One such problem states that the only way such a transport system is possible if, like a train, it followed a pre-set path that had been laid ahead of time. To complicate matters, this "track" must also be laid at the speed of light; essentially requiring that an Alcubierre drive would have to precede itself in order to create an Alcubierre track. Since each preceding Alcubierre drive would [might have to?] have to precede itself, it does not seem possible that the Alcubierre track could be created. [For now, at least.]

[Cydonia]

Of course, my version of Unified field theory (yet to be published/peer reviewed) would allow such drives to work and be safely operated.

[phoenix_ca]

Hrm. Come back to us when it's been published and peer reviewed then. (I'm quite familiar with the progress made recently on the theoretical mechanics of the Alcubierre drive; 'tis why I mentioned it. A year ago I wouldn't have entertained the idea.)