I think all world powers should come together to build a generation ship

[WinterBorn]

I think all world powers should come together to build a generation ship and we should send it to proxima centauri b!


Benefits
1. China, russia and the United states would work together which would promote peace.
2. Millions of high paying jobs
3. The next generation growing up feeling that they can do anything and work to become the next generation of explorers and scientist.


A generation ship
Generation ship - Wikipedia or Interstellar ark - Wikipedia

The goal isn't to get to such a planet in one generation, but to make a ship in which many generations of humans can live until it reaches said planet.

I believe once we confirm an Atmosphere that we should go for it and colonist this planet. It would insure our species has a second home and proxima b will probably last much longer then our sun(probably at least 10 times longer).

The smallest stars in the universe have exceedingly long lives — in fact, none have faced their end yet. Red dwarfs, stars with less than 0.4 solar masses, burn so slowly that they might live to 100 billion years old, much longer than the current age of the universe.

How Do Stars Die and How Long Do Stars Live? | Sky & Telescope

two planets - less chance of extinction be it from asteroid, quasar or nuclear war.

I am all for space travel and research. However, there are a few problems with this idea.

First, I don't think China, Russia and the US could work together on a large scale. I could see the conservatives crying that white people invented everything but we always get shafted. The liberals would cry about Maori tribes being underrepresented in the work.

And these millions of high paying jobs? Who is paying them?

As for the next generation, how would they feel they could do anything? The would likely be only a minor part of the design crew. As a portion of the population, they would need less so they would get less. And only 75 to 100 of them are going. So the vast majority of the next generation would be doing manual labor or be a cog in the wheel so that someone else gets to explore space.

Sorry top be a downer. But I am a pragmatist.

 

[WinterBorn]

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I was thinking more along the lines of a Dyson Sphere, first.

This at our current tech would be better. We're aiming for something that is doable today and can be done with the help of the world powers.
1. It would have about 200 people
2. Would be our mayflower to the new habitual world

you might want to look that number up.

it's about 5000 short of the numbers you need to prevent inbreeding.

Actually, the use of frozen genetic material (sperm and egg) would be simpler than having that large a group of people.

 

[Vastator]

A more worthwhile endeavor would be to make habitable bases on, or in orbit around, every large body in our solar system. Starting with our own moon. The variety of challenges posed by this endeavor is what is needed to "cut our teeth" so to speak; in becoming a space fareing species. We are a long, long way from sending our people out of our solar system. And even if we could...
We have no idea what challenges await us in other systems. As the variety within our own solar system shows us; no two planets, or moons are alike. Without scouting the area first we'd be sending these voyagers to their doom. We wouldn't even know what materials, and support equipment we would need to send along with them without knowing the conditions of the place we are sending them.
We as a species need to spend a couple hundred years establishing our presence throughout our own system first. Those challenges alone; when met... Will put us "light years" closer to interstellar travel. Pun intended...

 

[WinterBorn]

A more worthwhile endeavor would be to make habitable bases on, or in orbit around, every large body in our solar system. Starting with our own moon. The variety of challenges posed by this endeavor is what is needed to "cut our teeth" so to speak; in becoming a space fareing species. We are a long, long way from sending our people out of our solar system. And even if we could...
We have no idea what challenges await us in other systems. As the variety within our own solar system shows us; no two planets, or moons are alike. Without scouting the area first we'd be sending these voyagers to their doom. We wouldn't even know what materials, and support equipment we would need to send along with them without knowing the conditions of the place we are sending them.
We as a species need to spend a couple hundred years establishing our presence throughout our own system first. Those challenges alone; when met... Will put us "light years" closer to interstellar travel. Pun intended...

I think this makes more sense. Interstellar travel takes huge amounts of time and energy. We learn by doing. But with the amount of time between attempt and results, we have no way to correct production until it is too late.

Smaller attempts at colonization via orbiting bases would allow the research and production corrections while still spreading thru space.

Also, the overwhelming majority of the energy expended in space travel is the launch from Earth's gravity. If we build in space, that is all but eliminated.

 

[Yarddog]

A more worthwhile endeavor would be to make habitable bases on, or in orbit around, every large body in our solar system. Starting with our own moon. The variety of challenges posed by this endeavor is what is needed to "cut our teeth" so to speak; in becoming a space fareing species. We are a long, long way from sending our people out of our solar system. And even if we could...
We have no idea what challenges await us in other systems. As the variety within our own solar system shows us; no two planets, or moons are alike. Without scouting the area first we'd be sending these voyagers to their doom. We wouldn't even know what materials, and support equipment we would need to send along with them without knowing the conditions of the place we are sending them.
We as a species need to spend a couple hundred years establishing our presence throughout our own system first. Those challenges alone; when met... Will put us "light years" closer to interstellar travel. Pun intended...

I think this makes more sense. Interstellar travel takes huge amounts of time and energy. We learn by doing. But with the amount of time between attempt and results, we have no way to correct production until it is too late.

Smaller attempts at colonization via orbiting bases would allow the research and production corrections while still spreading thru space.

Also, the overwhelming majority of the energy expended in space travel is the launch from Earth's gravity. If we build in space, that is all but eliminated.

Right. This would be following the scientific method instead of being in a panic and saying that we need to get to planet x at all costs. Finding a replacement planet for earth needs to be the goal of far future generations, our goal would be more so just to build the framework as your saying. We still face huge obsticals like solar radiation and effects of zero gravity to master before we think we can design some sort of long range ship without having those things mastered

 

[Old Rocks]

I think all world powers should come together to build a generation ship and we should send it to proxima centauri b!


Benefits
1. China, russia and the United states would work together which would promote peace.
2. Millions of high paying jobs
3. The next generation growing up feeling that they can do anything and work to become the next generation of explorers and scientist.


A generation ship
Generation ship - Wikipedia or Interstellar ark - Wikipedia

The goal isn't to get to such a planet in one generation, but to make a ship in which many generations of humans can live until it reaches said planet.

I believe once we confirm an Atmosphere that we should go for it and colonist this planet. It would insure our species has a second home and proxima b will probably last much longer then our sun(probably at least 10 times longer).

The smallest stars in the universe have exceedingly long lives — in fact, none have faced their end yet. Red dwarfs, stars with less than 0.4 solar masses, burn so slowly that they might live to 100 billion years old, much longer than the current age of the universe.

How Do Stars Die and How Long Do Stars Live? | Sky & Telescope

two planets - less chance of extinction be it from asteroid, quasar or nuclear war.

I think likely in the next 100 years our tech for faster engines, perhaps 1/10th to 1/2 at most, of the speed of light will be achieved. We'd be able to build a ship that could catch up and overtake anything we send out now. And if sub-light travel, as through a worm-hole, is possible and we discover it we may well be at a gen ship's destination waiting for them for years.

All speculation. Faster than light travel or even close to light speed travel may not be possible at all. In general I think we should be sending fast probes to all the close star systems at least.

In the end we may well find space is so vast we cannot travel across it fast enough to reach anything.

That could be so. But we hardly know enough basic physics to say that is so. And we do already have the technology to send small probes using lasers. Multi generation project, but worthwhile.

 

[WillMunny]

I think it would be a better idea to try and focus building Alcubierre's "warp drive." Which would make a generation ship unnecessary and would probably be a cheaper way to visit the stars.

 

[Syriusly]

I think all world powers should come together to build a generation ship and we should send it to proxima centauri b!


Benefits
1. China, russia and the United states would work together which would promote peace.
2. Millions of high paying jobs
3. The next generation growing up feeling that they can do anything and work to become the next generation of explorers and scientist.


A generation ship
Generation ship - Wikipedia or Interstellar ark - Wikipedia

The goal isn't to get to such a planet in one generation, but to make a ship in which many generations of humans can live until it reaches said planet.

I believe once we confirm an Atmosphere that we should go for it and colonist this planet. It would insure our species has a second home and proxima b will probably last much longer then our sun(probably at least 10 times longer).

The smallest stars in the universe have exceedingly long lives — in fact, none have faced their end yet. Red dwarfs, stars with less than 0.4 solar masses, burn so slowly that they might live to 100 billion years old, much longer than the current age of the universe.

How Do Stars Die and How Long Do Stars Live? | Sky & Telescope

two planets - less chance of extinction be it from asteroid, quasar or nuclear war.

Have you read the comments by the author of 'The Martian' about colonizing even Mars?

The jist of it is that establishing a colony on Mars would be vastly more expensive than cleaning up the Earth.

Its a good read- check it out.

 

[CarlinAnnArbor]

`
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I was thinking more along the lines of a Dyson Sphere, first.

This at our current tech would be better. We're aiming for something that is doable today and can be done with the help of the world powers.
1. It would have about 200 people
2. Would be our mayflower to the new habitual world

You must hate human beings more than I do to condemn human beings with no choice in the matter to living their lives in an icy, dark vacuum.

 

[Likkmee]

Could we cure arthritis and the common cold........and learn to fix Parkinsons first ? That would be cool

 

[Yarddog]

Could we cure arthritis and the common cold........and learn to fix Parkinsons first ? That would be cool

I wouldn't want to get into that sort of project with China and Russia while they are still propping up NK anyway.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Could we cure arthritis and the common cold........and learn to fix Parkinsons first ? That would be cool

We can do both at the same time! That is the wonders of educating our population and the reality that different people can do different things.

 

[Muhammed]

I could see a large religious cult trying it.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

I really appreciate threads like this. It makes me realize how incredibly stupid we remain as a species with the likes of Science Rocks infecting our society. He hasn't given this 1/10th of 1% of the time needed to see that his dream came from too much weed!

 

[ScienceRocks]

Any society that gives up on exploration and scientific progress is giving up leadership as a world power.

The day we sit around with our finger in our ass is the day America will be at the same level as Zimbabwe.

 

[fncceo]

The day we sit around with our finger in our ass is the day America will be at the same level as Zimbabwe.

I’ve spent tine in Zimbabwe and never observed anyone standing or sitting with any appendages up their bums.

Are you confusing Zimbabwe with one of your cabana parties?

 

[ScienceRocks]

History is full of great powers exploring and looking for resources. Space has tons of resources and it would be a damn shame to stop thousands of years of human heritage...

Want to talk about conservative? Exploration and finding resources is the most conservative thing you can do.

 

[fncceo]

History is full of great powers explorating and looking for resources. Space is tons of resources and it would be a damn shame to stop thousands of years of human heritage...

Want to talk about conservative? Exploration and finding resources is the most conservative thing you can do.

If the cost of bringing those resources to market exceeds the price they would bring, the ( fiscally) conservative thing to do is leave them where they are till the day comes when they can be gathered profitably.

There was a time when pepper was worth more than an equivalent weight in gold and that made it profitable to send fragile ships halfway around the world to bring it back to sell it.

Today, advanced in shipping technology has made pepper one of the cheapest spice commodities.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Any society that gives up on exploration and scientific progress is giving up leadership as a world power.

The day we sit around with our finger in our ass is the day America will be at the same level as Zimbabwe.

See! I knew you are obsessed with Uranus!

 

[Likkmee]

Could we cure arthritis and the common cold........and learn to fix Parkinsons first ? That would be cool

We can do both at the same time! That is the wonders of educating our population and the reality that different people can do different things.

Pleeez. Never in duhmurka