Hacker News Reader

Hacker News

Comment by deletes | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

deletes

It would take about 15.6 years [0] to reach the star on a ship capable of a constant 1G acceleration.

Here is the explanation and equations: http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/SR/rocket.h...

[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6637131

View on HN

15.6 years for the passenger, thousands of years from our perspective.

Meh. People were willing to go half-way across the world to try living somewhere new, probably never to return. Announce the trip, and you'll have to weed out volunteers pretty viciously.

So after a few subjective years, you will be overtaken by newer and faster ships, and when you arrive, there will be a flourishing civilization already there to greet you.

And the people in the faster ships will be your grandchildren, yup. Plot of Heinlein's "Time for the Stars", pretty much.

I was thinking of "Far Centaurus" by A. E. van Vogt, but I'll look up the Heinlein as well now.

I read this when I was younger and had no idea what it was called until now. I've tried to remember it a bunch. Thanks!

Does this take the needed deceleration in account? If we are to land there anyway :P

Yes, but the real problem is fuel( even with antimatter ). And radiation.

I agree that the real problem is fuel, but 10 years isn't quite long enough if you are going to accelerate halfway and decelerate halfway to arrive at low speed. For a 2,500 light year trip composed of two 1,250 light year legs, the time experienced by the ship will be (in units where c and a are both approximately 1):

2 * T(1250 lyr) = 2 * (c/a) arccosh (ad/c^2 + 1) = 2 * arccosh(1250 + 1) = 2 * 7.8 = 15.6 yr.

It is dubious we will ever travel faster than 10% the speed of light.

But a probe might be able to.

Not dubious - speculative:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4534359

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6238297

Although, I certainly wouldn't bet against it long term.

If you did, you'd really be betting on your ability to collect / pay up the debt.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com