What if we dropped interstellar ambitions and focused on understanding our home system?

The post demonstrates how infeasible it is to travel to a location outside our solar system anytime in the next several generations.

What are some things you would like to see humanity do within our solar system within the next century? When do you think it is feasible to achieve that goal?

  • saba
    24·
    2 years ago

    I don’t know if it will happen in the next century, but we definitely should focus on moon and Mars colonies before thinking about leaving the solar system. I’m 48 and would love if we had a moon colony in my lifetime. At the very least some station where astronauts have an extended stay like they do on ISS.

  • InquisitiveApathy@lemm.ee
    20·
    2 years ago

    People in general have a hard time conceptualizing how large and empty space is. With our current propulsion technology it will take longer than the human lifespan, barring any absolutely groundbreaking cryonics developments, to reach even the Oort cloud of our own solar system.

    I think in the next century, a reasonable goal is to have small sparsely manned mining outpost settlements on Mars. There’s enough financial incentive where I could see a future where it happens.

    • Morcyphr@lemmy.oneEnglish
      5·
      2 years ago

      This is probably the correct answer. I’m a fairly smart guy but the enormity of space is astounding. We aren’t going far anytime in the near future. Probably we’ll kill each other first. Manned Mars is even a stretch even, imo.

    • shortwavesurfer@monero.town
      2·
      2 years ago

      Ion drives. A little acceleration over a long time can get you going quite fast. I doubt chemical rockets will be used much except actually getting off the planet soon.

        • shortwavesurfer@monero.town
          1·
          2 years ago

          I had to read this a couple times to make sure i got it. Thanks for that. As far as i understand it at least orbits and courses are much easier with chemical fuel because its point and thrust and all over in a matter of a couple hours. Your fuel is mostly expended and you are on the correct track with very small adjustments possibly required. An ion drive while slow is an exponential curve because its speeding up on top of the speed it already has. So instead of going from 0, to 1, to 2, to 3, to 4, to 5 it would go from 0, to 1, to 2, to 4, to 16, to 256. If i am understanding correctly this would far outsrip a point and thrust craft quickly. A probe to mars takes 9 months during the transfer window but i have heard estimates of 3 months for an ion drive craft

      • Wahots@pawb.social
        1·
        2 years ago

        For in-system travel, we have to invest in space infrastructure, same as we did for the Oregon trail -> highways, the earliest sailing ships -> hydrofoil ships and aircraft carriers, and from covered wagons to cargo trains.

        Skyhooks are a system of locomotion we could already do today, and save tons of expense on fuel and lift capacity, it’s just staggeringly expensive to do. We would need to redesign our spacecraft and building the first skyhooks would be a joint nation-state endeavor.

        Interesting high level overview on them here. https://youtu.be/dqwpQarrDwk

        Pretty decent pre generation-ship technology.