Author’s note: Trill is a fictional female acquaintance who makes it possible to write in a style
that is comfortable for me.
My Dear Trill,
My Dear Trill,
An interesting tale about your young nephew, who, at his tender age, is interested in interstellar travel. That generation is so bright. I have high hopes for it. Could he have been inspired
by Star Trek and Star Wars films? Of course, they are science fiction, rife with implausible tricks.
We should be amazed that Scotty, on the Starship Enterprise, was never commanded to reduce
Warp Speed. So the Enterprise must still be speeding along in space somewhere, maybe by now
in another galaxy, with no idea about how to slow down and return.
Seriously though, what has caught your nephew’s enthusiasm has a wide appeal, for the
most part resting in those that view interstellar travel as part of the great human adventure. Only
a few are concerned about a genuine need, for instance in the event that Earth becomes non-
habitable, struck by a huge asteroid or swallowed by a wandering black hole. To preserve
the species, the argument goes, we had better be prepared to settle some people elsewhere.
The concern is found not only in the general population, but also at levels where you would expect knowledgeable opinion. In the past few months opinions have been expressed by two noted British astrophysicists, Stephen Hawking and Robert Rees, that humanity could become extinct in a thousand years, and possibly in as few as a hundred years. Climate change is viewed as a possible cause, rendering the planet unliveable, but also worries exist regarding appearance of a nut who is a skilled technician in nano-technology and virus creation, who might decide that it is time to eradicate all humanity.
In the more distant future, the sun is predicted to increase in diameter to the point that Earth and other planets , Venus and Mercury, are engulfed. That is the ultimate fate, but too far in the future to worry about.
The concern is found not only in the general population, but also at levels where you would expect knowledgeable opinion. In the past few months opinions have been expressed by two noted British astrophysicists, Stephen Hawking and Robert Rees, that humanity could become extinct in a thousand years, and possibly in as few as a hundred years. Climate change is viewed as a possible cause, rendering the planet unliveable, but also worries exist regarding appearance of a nut who is a skilled technician in nano-technology and virus creation, who might decide that it is time to eradicate all humanity.
In the more distant future, the sun is predicted to increase in diameter to the point that Earth and other planets , Venus and Mercury, are engulfed. That is the ultimate fate, but too far in the future to worry about.
Assuming the case can be made for interstellar travel, the initial and driving premise is
that a propulsion system can be developed to attain speeds that enable reaching a destination in
a reasonable time. Even at the speed of light, it would take approximately four years to reach the
nearest star, Alpha Centauri. Should the James Webb telescope discover a liveable planet much
more distant, It could take generations to reach it......and generation ships have appeared in the
literature.
Historically, there have been extended trips: The voyage of the Beagle, a British explor-
atory voyage, on which Charles Darwin sailed for five years; The Lewis and Clarke expedition in
1804 which lasted for two years.
Sometimes I think about how one would go about the discovery and development of a
propulsion system. There is little doubt that it would require breakthrough physics, as nothing
currently exists that comes near to doing the job. Appropriations by the Congress would be risky.
This project could take a hundred years, and Congress has a habit of axing programs that don’t
show great progress. But how, assuming that it would take that long, would one go about funding a Centennial Project? One idea is to take a small percentage of the budgets of the various
agencies. NASA, EPA, NSF, DARPA, etc. NASA alone, at 5% of its annual budget, could provide the annual billion dollars it might require per year for a hundred years.
Another way is to approach the five hundred billionaires in the country and seek funding via a crowd funding scheme that would yield a billion dollars a year. That would be interesting. Under this scheme, billionaires would invest in funds that would yield the proposed annual
amount. They would lose nothing, as the principle would remain intact.
Worth noting is the “One Hundred Year Starship” project now being funded by DARPA
and NASA, a study funded to ex-astronaut Mae Jemmison at a $500,000 level. It is hard to
imagine that this will produce knowledge beyond that already produced by the British Interplanetary Society (Daedalus) and contributors to the Tau Zero Foundation, an organization dedicated
to breakthrough propulsion. But the objective of the study is only to determine the organization
of an effort, if undertaken, to develop a Star Ship within a period of 100 years.
The design of a Star Ship will fall into place once a propulsion system is available. Present day design of cruise ships and submarines already provide an experience base for provisioning and for accommodation of crew and passengers. However, for comfortable travel, artificial gravity
would be a must. Conceptually, a gravity ship might be comprised of two spheres, connected by
a long tube. After acquiring transfer velocity, the Star Ship would rotate, end over end, providing
a gravity field for crew comfort and well being. A major engineering task will be to provide on-
board power......in all liklihood nuclear. Heat rejection is a major design issue.
Again, the key to interstellar travel is propulsion. Nothing available today comes close to
being adequate. Solving it calls for breakthrough physics, and so far as I know, there is nothing
in play that offers a possible answer.
Good luck to your nephew, Trill. I will mail to you books I have written that may help
him in making a career choice - All About Rocket Engines, The Future of U.S. Rocketry, and All
About Clean Energy. I hope they will be helpful.
