Re:Size and albedo of the largest detected Oort-cloud object
by lsllc on Tuesday November 26, 2024 @06:42PM
(#42251384)
Ion thrusters [0], solar sails [1], nuclear pulse propulsion [2] are all things that have real research being done on them. There's more esoteric stuff (theoretical) such as the Alcubierre Drive [3] (Warp drive!) that's more of the realm of sci-fi.
If you can maintain a constant 1g of acceleration, you'd get to ~0.99c in approximately 1 year -- but you need to carry/provide the energy to fuel whatever propulsion system you're using and the amount of fuel needed to maintain that 1g of acceleration increases as you get closer to c.
If you can maintain a constant 1g of acceleration, you'd get to ~0.99c in approximately 1 year -- but you need to carry/provide the energy to fuel whatever propulsion system you're using and the amount of fuel needed to maintain that 1g of acceleration increases as you get closer to c.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_thruster
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_sail
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_pulse_propulsion
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive