Rocky Planet found outside our Solar System!

[heruamon]

mrstickball said:
heruamon -

We have the ability to travel to the stars. It's really the question of how long it'll take to exploit it.

The key to space travel is the simple key to driving: Energy. The problem is finding a source of energy that can power a spacecraft to very fast speeds. Such a power source must be cheap, readily available, and safe. Solar really doesn't fit that bill because it's bulky.

However, we've already researched how to do it. It was called Project Daedalus, and it was completed in the 1960's. Also, Project Orion used similar studies into near-FTL travel in the 60's.

Essentially, the key is some sort of nuclear process. Project Orion used nuclear bomb explosions behind the craft, while Daedalus used a nuclear nozzle jetting behind it.

The problem with both crafts is the amount of material needed to achieve 1/10th (or so) of lightspeed. Daedalus would need ~50,000 tons of material to travel at 1/10th the speed of light.

However, those studies were decades ago. We now have a fairly reasonable source of fissionable material: He3. 10 tons of HE3 would be able to able to power roughly 300KG of material up to 0.75c (c = speed of light). HE3 is readily abundant in our solar system, and should be mostly abundant in other solar systems where gas giants are present. Because of this, a craft could refuel at other solar systems.

Of course, making a drive core that can burn HE3 is still many decades away. We don't even have a power plant that can process the stuff, so we have to first make it applicable, then miniaturize it.

Nevertheless, it can and will happen. It may take decades or even a century, but it will happen. I just wish I was younger to see it

Yeah...I read about it before, but the cost would be astronomical, and it wouldn't be functional for manned space travel...detonating nuclear material to provide thrust...good concept.  I think inter system travel and commerce is probably the best way to get humans more acclamated to space travel.  The key is what's the ROI for mankind...can you imagine if we would have found some rare valuable minerals on the moon...the place would be covered with clonies at this point...instead...we only found moon rocks.  Now, if we could discover some amazing materials in the asteriod field, national government would go for broke to exploit space.