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I've seen description of Alpha Centauri Probes that seem
promising, but they are 50 years Away, or Take 100 Years
to get there.
I think we need a new aproach If we are ever to send
probes to other stars. The Problem is what I call the Retroactive Obsolescense Paradox. and goes like this..
Even a probe that take 40 years to get to a star has a good chance at being overtaken by a probe built 25 years Later, so
why not wait a few more years, decades and oops we haven't sent it yet, or ever.
One solution seems to be to make the probe as small as possible so it can be sent as fast as possible, a 20 lb probe or some such. Obcourse after shielding it with a protective cover + Internal Energy plant.
You don't have much left for PROBING.
I think the only way to attack this problem is to break up your probe into about 800 20 gram Pieces. Launched from
the Moon, These pieces could be acclerated to .25 C. one after another. I envision about 8 paralell launchers. After
compensating for the lunar rotation, once in spacethese pieces would form a matrix of 8 x 100 pieces of probeship. Then magically i.e. nano-assembly-navigation) it would being to build itself up.
Obviously you don't need all the pieces to function, since
there is a good chance some of them will get damaged en route, a healthy amount rendundance is must.
Is this not better than trying to push a 100lb probe to
.25C? if that's even possible within 25 years.
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I think what you say is true, our technology just isn't advanced enough to make a good enough Centauri probe right now. I don't know how feasible the 'probe builds itself in space' idea is, but hey, whatever works is fine by me.
I'd like to see a probe get up to .25C (or hey, even .1C) just to see how everything looks.. flying to Alpha Centauri would be a bonus. I have a feeling Alpha Centauri will be interesting, though, when we finally do get there one way or another.
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Our biggest problem beyound the traveling speed is power. Nuclear rtg's just will not cut the time to travel and unless jimo or some other nuclear power gets developed the promise of reaching a far off destination is not possible.
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Did anyone see Alien Plant on the Discovery Channel?
It mostly concerned the discovery of life though.
"Yes, I was going to give this astronaut selection my best shot, I was determined when the NASA proctologist looked up my ass, he would see pipes so dazzling he would ask the nurse to get his sunglasses."
---Shuttle Astronaut Mike Mullane
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Yeah, I found it interesting to see what they came up with, but a few of their beasties were simply 'let's make things really huge'. And I'd rather that the probes met intelligent life than that they were crushed.. and I'm not sure if methane-bagged creatures could ever really survive, unless it was in a largely oxygen-free atmosphere. Still, they did come up with a lot of stuff that I don't know I could have.
Alien Planet was infinitely more interesting than virtually everything else on TV, regardless..
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