LogFAQs > #972330050

ParanoidObsessive posted...

People assume we'll be easily heading back and forth to Mars by 2150, when we might actually living in caves and hitting each other with sticks again.

While it is possible, it's extremely unlikely, even the old fear of wiping out all tech (massive EMP charge etc) and being unable to get back to the same level of technology because fossil fuels are too hard to reach now, is pretty much gone due to our current methods of generating power from solar etc.

Information is very hard to totally destroy, and progress therefore is likely to continue, the extreme progress we have made, and the increase in how fast we make it steadily, over the last 50 years, makes it extremely likely that tech will continue to progress at the same rate of faster for the next 50 years.

In 1978 color tvs were finally available to the public, so in less than 50 years we have gone from that, to being able to watch any show we want, anywhere in the world on our cell phones lol.

As far as extensive space exploration and terraforming etc, the primary roadblock is energy. Water can provide that, so any planets/asteroids etc with water can be used, but if we do eventually develop a method of cold fusion, that would pretty much give us unlimited power and the ability to travel anywhere given enough time.

As far as traveling vast distances, it only would take 173 days to reach half the speed of light in space at 1g of acceleration. Any method of creating enough energy to do that would enable us to reach other solar systems within a fairly (relatively speaking) short amount of time.

The closest solar system for instance is 4.2 light years from earth. If it takes 173 days to accelerate to half the speed of light and 173 days to decelerate once you get where you are going, then the total trip would probably take between 8-9 years (maybe a bit over 9, not doing the calculations). While long, that is not unreasonable at all, but none of the planets there would likely be able to sustain life without massive tera-forming or living in domes etc (like on our moon etc). The closest planet that could probably sustain life is 22 light years away Gliese or something like that), is much larger than earth, and would take over 40 years to reach (possibly less, again math is needed but you can keep accelerating past 1/2 light speed, it just takes more fuel the faster you go etc, still I bet you could get to 75% eventually, probably in a year or so.....which would reduce the entire trip to maybe...30 ish years?).

Also as you develop technology you don't need "earth like" planets anymore, as you can create stable environments (within very large domes etc), and as long as you have resources for energy, and water of some kind on the planet (or asteroids nearby etc), you are golden. Don't have to have an eden, just need another place to expand from.

Same goes eventually for space statins, you can use asteroids that have metals and ice etc, to build large space stations, and then literally bring the ice/metal asteroids with you as you travel for fuel etc.

Anyway unless something massive happens, even if most of humanity goes poof, most of humanity is worthless anyway, the brightest minds will continue to develop technology and advance and more than likely we will eventually reach the stars and conquer them.