Re:Relativistic Spaceship
by eek2121 on Monday February 05, 2024 @05:20PM
(#39268041)
Well the obvious solution would be to figure out a mechanism to capture the particles that bombard your ship and figure out a way to turn those particles into thrust so you don’t need to take a bunch of fuel with you, which I get it, is another hard problem to solve, but maybe not impossible. We have done some incredible things before.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
The good old Bussard Ramjet. Problem is, recent calculations showed that it's not viable - even for a Kardashev Type II civilisation [1]
[1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S009457652...
Re:Relativistic Spaceship
by throwaway11460 on Monday February 05, 2024 @05:59PM
(#39268398)
It's not viable to use it to visit the galactic center during a lifetime, but it still flies, if I understand that correctly?
Theoretically it works, yes, though not nearly as well as initially thought. The engineering and the required materials, however, are still questionable and way beyond our current understanding of physics and material science.
It's a similar story for solar sails, unfortunately, though progress is being made in that area. Personally, I think that's the only realistic way of interstellar travel given our current knowledge of physics and engineering.