Interstellar Travel and the Incentive Trap
Should we begin our journey to the stars now, or wait until we have faster technology?
Should we begin our journey to the stars now, or wait until we have faster technology?
How existing technology can send a spacecraft to the nearest star in less than a human lifetime.
Spacecraft need so much fuel to travel interstellar distances that fuel becomes the only thing they can bring along. Are there any solutions to this problem? This article looks at two: interstellar ramjets and antimatter drives.
Could the destructive power of our nuclear weapons arsenal be repurposed to transport humankind to the stars?
Astrophysicist Philip Lubin has said, “Chemistry will get you to Mars, but it won’t get you to the stars.” What did he mean by that? And, if chemistry won't get us to the stars, what will?