Theoretical space question

[JonathanW]

So with our current knowledge, it’s not possible for us to explore other galaxies or even solar systems. But theoretically if we could figure out how to travel at or near the speed of light we could reach a lot of them, although only a small fraction that exist without being able to travel way faster than the speed of light.

However I am thinking way before reaching the speed of light we would surpass our own ability to steer a ship to avoid planets and asteroids. But also near the speed of light would that make it not possible for even electronic guidance to work. I doubt we could design an electrical signal to be faster than light, and enough faster for then guidance manipulation/maneuvers to take place.

Or is the guidance possibility just another piece of the puzzle we are unable to conceive of yet?

 

[WildcatFan1982]

Even at light speed it’d take 4 years to get to the nearest star. Not happening in our lifetime. And assuming Einstein is correct, won’t happen.

 

[the nail at the foul line]

You are travelling at the speed of light and you turn on your headlights, do they do anything?

Stephen Wright

 

[HagginHall1999]

So with our current knowledge, it’s not possible for us to explore other galaxies or even solar systems. But theoretically if we could figure out how to travel at or near the speed of light we could reach a lot of them, although only a small fraction that exist without being able to travel way faster than the speed of light.

However I am thinking way before reaching the speed of light we would surpass our own ability to steer a ship to avoid planets and asteroids. But also near the speed of light would that make it not possible for even electronic guidance to work. I doubt we could design an electrical signal to be faster than light, and enough faster for then guidance manipulation/maneuvers to take place.

Or is the guidance possibility just another piece of the puzzle we are unable to conceive of yet?

Did you roll it, pack it or eat it?

 

[funKYcat75]

However I am thinking way before reaching the speed of light we would surpass our own ability to steer a ship to avoid planets and asteroids.

Most of Space is just that. Space. Notoriously empty blackness. If we are approaching the ability to travel anywhere close to light speed, we’d have to assume that navigation would have been figured out by then.

 

[Spica Orbit]

Other than the Magellanic Clouds (two small satellite galaxies of our own Milky Way) & a host of other small galaxies, the nearest galaxy as large or larger than the our home galaxy is M31 at 2.5 million light years. That's a long day's walk!

 

[KAB Cats]

Other than the Magellanic Clouds (two small satellite galaxies of our own Milky Way) & a host of other small galaxies, the nearest galaxy as large or larger than the our home galaxy is M31 at 2.5 million light years. That's a long day's walk!

Name definitely checks out.

 

[Spica Orbit]

M31 (Messier 31) is actually visible without optical aid in late Summer & Fall in the northeastern sky. You need to be in a rural area & away from lights, however.

 

[J_Dee]

Some good related articles:

Basics of Spaceflight -- NASA, Dave Doody

The Physics of Interstellar Travel -- Dr. Michio Kaku

Is Interstellar Travel Really Possible? -- Paul Sutter

 

[J_Dee]

You are travelling at the speed of light and you turn on your headlights, do they do anything?

Stephen Wright

What would happen if you drove your car close to the speed of light and turned on the headlights? -- Dr. Christopher S. Baird

 

[CaptainBoogerBuns]

Man, you’re gonna get yourself hurt doing that crap. You watch.

 

[UKBlueBlood]

Given the virtually incomprehensible enormity of space, the comparably minuscule human lifespan, and the nearly unimaginable technological capabilities that would be needed to venture beyond our solar system, I think we are best served focusing on the floating rock we’ve been given. Colonizing the moon, or maybe Mars, seems to be the most we can reasonably hope to achieve.

 

[thabigbluenation]

It seems like if any species, if they exist, as well as ours cannot endure the severity of space biologically. Exploration, if any tech evolves for faster travel will be done thru AI and robotics. Until we evolve to living longer than 75 rotations around the sun space travel is a moot point.

 

[Girthang]

It seems like if any species, if they exist, as well as ours cannot endure the severity of space biologically. Exploration, if any tech evolves for faster travel will be done thru AI and robotics. Until we evolve to living longer than 75 rotations around the sun space travel is a moot point.

Just a minor point, but tech doesnt "evolve." It is re-engineered and/or redesigned.

It wasn't that long ago that people in less developed countries and remove locations were regularly living well past 100. It is industry and modern medicine that has caused the biggest reductions in lifespans, despite all of the "advancements" (conveniences) that have been seen.

Good hygiene, less chemicals/pharmaceuticals, and a natural diet combined with rural or remote location living correlates to longer life expectancy. It's the opposite with tech and industry.

Until we figure out how not to destroy THIS planet, it's the ultimate futility to seek travel to another. It's sad how we've bought into the hype and marketing of sci-fi and fantasy to the point that most of it is no longer considered fiction because of the simple tech advances that it inspired.

 

[Girthang]

So with our current knowledge, it’s not possible for us to explore other galaxies or even solar systems. But theoretically if we could figure out how to travel at or near the speed of light we could reach a lot of them, although only a small fraction that exist without being able to travel way faster than the speed of light.

However I am thinking way before reaching the speed of light we would surpass our own ability to steer a ship to avoid planets and asteroids. But also near the speed of light would that make it not possible for even electronic guidance to work. I doubt we could design an electrical signal to be faster than light, and enough faster for then guidance manipulation/maneuvers to take place.

Or is the guidance possibility just another piece of the puzzle we are unable to conceive of yet?

Great questions.

Many assume hyperspace travel is viable even for space ships that can't even scan much further than the distance we are from the moon. If space were just a void, as assumed when a lot of Sci fi began, sure, you could jump to "lightspeed" and go from here to there without a floating pebble or space whale destroying your ship.

Reality is there is a ton of stuff between this or any planet and the closest galaxy. Stuff sitting still we can't see or detect and stuff that is moving. Scientists still can't precisely detect or predict asteroid trajectories of slow moving ones.

Not many discussions ever address that gaseous clouds and nebulas would become more like relatively solid objects to faster and faster moving ships. A lot like water becomes to someone jumping from too great an altitude or a ship would experience coming at our atmosphere at high speed from space.

 

[Girthang]

Warping space or creating/finding wormholes/tunnels through space is the only way a person of our kind will likely live to see another galaxy in person, unless they invent long range scanning and teleportation.

 

[Girthang]

If a ship did reach the speed of light and traveled to a nearby star or galaxy, we’d almost all be dead before it returned.

The nearest star is 4.6 light years away. Back and forth, that’d 9.2 years for the crew, but on earth that’d be about equivalent to about 65 earth years.

And they'd lose their minds within weeks days hours of losing their data/wifi signal

 

[Girthang]

One of the biggest problems we talked about in our physics classes and labs relative to space travel is the sheer amount of fuel, supplies, and structure it would require of a vehicle to make it to another galaxy while supporting human and vegetative life. That's without taking into account likely hazards and repairs to the ship along the way.

Cryosleep alone, while it is a great fantasy plot point, is frequently depicted as fantastically silly as possible. Most closely resembles the "sleeping beauty" fairy tale complete with glass windowed coffin/bed. The reality of that idea is that the body would require room and equipment to move, force exercise and resistance training, and ways to both directly feed and dispose of accumulating waste product needs of the human body. It would have to be a pretty large and cumbersome container for each person on the vehicle.

 

[funKYcat75]

space whale

But they know the way to the other galaxies!

 

[ganner918]

If a ship did reach the speed of light and traveled to a nearby star or galaxy, we’d almost all be dead before it returned.

The nearest star is 4.6 light years away. Back and forth, that’d 9.2 years for the crew, but on earth that’d be about equivalent to about 65 earth years.

Doesn't it work the opposite of that? We on Earth would observe the journey to take 4.6 years each way, but the crew would experience the trip to take only a fraction of that, and barely age?

 

[KAB Cats]

Doesn't it work the opposite of that? We on Earth would observe the journey to take 4.6 years each way, but the crew would experience the trip to take only a fraction of that, and barely age?

I am pretty sure that's the inverse, but now you had me second guessing.

This thread on Reddit explains time dilation a bit.

 

[SDC888]

If you travel at the speed of light (not possible according to our understanding of physics, only something without mass can reach the cosmic speed limit) then time doesn’t exist for you. In other words, it doesn’t take you four years to get to the nearest star four light years away traveling at the speed of light. You are there instantaneously, but four years have passed to an outside “stationary” observer.

 

[DreadLox]

Most of Space is just that. Space. Notoriously empty blackness. If we are approaching the ability to travel anywhere close to light speed, we’d have to assume that navigation would have been figured out by then.

College astronomy was over 50 years ago, but I seem to remember being told that if you fired a bullet through the center of a galaxy that it would be a 1,000,000,000-1 odds of hitting a star. There's no real vacuum anywhere, but the density of space is really^50 low.

 

[warrior-cat]

Warping space or creating/finding wormholes/tunnels through space is the only way a person of our kind will likely live to see another galaxy in person, unless they invent long range scanning and teleportation.

Yes, but for teleportation you would need 2 points of reference to make the system work. Which means, you would have to have a receiving end already set up.

 

[Girthang]

Yes, but for teleportation you would need 2 points of reference to make the system work. Which means, you would have to have a receiving end already set up.

Totally forgot about that. Good call

 

[KAB Cats]

If you travel at the speed of light (not possible according to our understanding of physics, only something without mass can reach the cosmic speed limit) then time doesn’t exist for you. In other words, it doesn’t take you four years to get to the nearest star four light years away traveling at the speed of light. You are there instantaneously, but four years have passed to an outside “stationary” observer.

This is correct apparently. I misstated

Used Perplexoty.ai (great site) for answer.

If a spacecraft were to travel to Proxima Centauri at a speed very close to the speed of light, the time experienced on Earth would be longer than the time experienced by the travelers due to time dilation effects. Here's a breakdown of the scenario:

1. Distance to Proxima Centauri: Proxima Centauri is approximately 4.2465 light-years away from Earth.
2. Time experienced on Earth: From the perspective of observers on Earth, the journey would take slightly over 4.2465 years, assuming the spacecraft could travel at a speed extremely close to the speed of light.
3. Time experienced by travelers: Due to time dilation, the travelers on the spacecraft would experience less time passing. The closer the speed is to the speed of light, the more pronounced this effect becomes.

For example:

• At 90% the speed of light (0.9c), the trip would take about 4.72 years from Earth's perspective, but only about 2.06 years for the travelers.
• As the speed increases even closer to the speed of light, the time experienced by the travelers would decrease further, while remaining around 4.2465 years from Earth's perspective.

It's important to note that reaching speeds this close to the speed of light is far beyond our current technological capabilities. The fastest spacecraft we have today, like the Parker Solar Probe, can reach speeds of about 0.067% the speed of light. At this speed, a journey to Proxima Centauri would take approximately 6,300 years.In summary, while approximately 4.2465 years would pass on Earth for a near-light-speed journey to Proxima Centauri, the time experienced by the travelers would be significantly less due to relativistic time dilation effects.

 

[chroix]

Probably be like when airplanes crash because of hitting a bird. Doesn’t happen often but every once in a while…

 

[TucsonCat]

Yes, but for teleportation you would need 2 points of reference to make the system work. Which means, you would have to have a receiving end already set up.

Not if Scotty is working the system. He was getting people on and off planets with just one contraption.

We're all interconnected with everything else. We're influencing the spins of quarks now faster than the speed of light. The atoms in my body have a dark matter twin, or infinite amount of them spread out in every galaxy. That ipad youre looking at now would've been unimaginable witchcraft to Isaac Newton 300 years ago. Not in my lifetime, but one day, some hindu is going to figure how to merge that "supernatural" quantum thinking with brute technological force of a 1000 super colliders, and well just be instantaneously duplicating ourselves across the universe.

 

[HymanKaplan]

By the time we got there. There, would already have moved farther away. It's a fools errand.

 

[JonathanW]

By the time we got there. There, would already have moved farther away. It's a fools errand.

That does bring up a good point. When scientists find a planet in a distant place that “could sustain life”, they really mean it could have sustained life many years ago, because any image we have is delayed by the amount of time it took light to travel that distance.

 

[Phil_The_Music]

I've always found this fact interesting. As fast as light seems to us, it actually moves at a snails pace compared to how massive even just our own galaxy is.

 

[the nail at the foul line]

By the time we got there. There, would already have moved farther away. It's a fools errand.

Yeah well, how fast is dark speed?

 

[BankerCat12]

Most of Space is just that. Space. Notoriously empty blackness. If we are approaching the ability to travel anywhere close to light speed, we’d have to assume that navigation would have been figured out by then.

My wife would find a way to hit a mailbox in space if she was driving.

 

[funKYcat75]

9.58 sec/100m

 

[Someguywhodoesntlikeyou]

They’ve already slowed light down so why not speed it up.

 

[chroix]

It’s an interesting question OP. You’d basically have to have everything mapped and modeled to be able to calculate a safe route. Combine that with a way to use AI to predict where objects are by gravitational influence and you’d have a decent way to avoid objects at high speed. Crazy to think of the computational power you’d need to do something like that.

 

[Someguywhodoesntlikeyou]

It’s an interesting question OP. You’d basically have to have everything mapped and modeled to be able to calculate a safe route. Combine that with a way to use AI to predict where objects are by gravitational influence and you’d have a decent way to avoid objects at high speed. Crazy to think of the computational power you’d need to do something like that.

the Millennium Falcon

 

[chroix]

the Millennium Falcon

I’m with OP. You try to make go light speed and just go straight line and there’s a bunch of little freeze dried wookie chunks floating around the cold dark void.

 

[KyCatFan]

You probably need something like a deflector dish (Star Trek) or a force field to clear out obstacles in your path. At least small ones. I'd imagine you couldn't clear anything out of the way that's larger than a basketball without some kind of powerful new technology. The bigger stuff would have to be bypassed and then you'd need some ridiculously high powered scanning equipment to check extremely far distances ahead of your path to give you time to adjust your course.

I think the only real way to travel interstellar distances would be to just build massive ships and live in space permanently traveling at whatever speed our current technology can take us. You won't ever come home though. You'd have to figure out the fuel, food, water, air, and health situation for extended travel. Maybe create artificial gravity to help with the health part. Plus, you'd have to either have families on board to keep reproducing future crew members or start using cloning technology.

I just don't know how far you could actually make it like that without being able to stop for supplies or repairs. Probably wouldn't make it to another galaxy, but it would be an interesting trip. Maybe the first attempt you drop some kind of beacons all along the way to try and speed up/improve communications. Then at least the crew could have a better chance to keep in contact with Earth to relay information. You could use that info to gain knowledge for future trips. Maybe even create outposts along the way.

I hope we at least get to colonizing Mars in my lifetime. There might be minable things to be used as fuel sources or to get ore to build needed parts. It could be that first outpost to lead to the next further stop. Possibly a moon of one of the gas giants. I would have loved to be born about 100 years in our future. No telling what technology will be available by then. We went from traveling on horseback to going into space in 100 years not to long ago. I wonder where we will be over the next 100 years? Probably will destroy ourselves before then.

 

[BlueThruAndThru]

I hope we at least get to colonizing Mars in my lifetime. There might be minable things to be used as fuel sources or to get ore to build needed parts. It could be that first outpost to lead to the next further stop. Possibly a moon of one of the gas giants. I would have loved to be born about 100 years in our future. No telling what technology will be available by then. We went from traveling on horseback to going into space in 100 years not to long ago. I wonder where we will be over the next 100 years? Probably will destroy ourselves before then.