5 ms·
No, but we probably could with enough fuel. The bigger issue is space dust. Hitting it at relativistic speeds would be like flying into a cosmic shotgun for the
by dexwiz 10y ago
No, but we probably could with enough fuel. The bigger issue is space dust. Hitting it at relativistic speeds would be like flying into a cosmic shotgun for the entire journey.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- aaronblohowiak 10y agoCould that cause accidental fusion?
- delecti 10y agoAssuming this [1] is reasonably accurate, very much yes. It proposes fusion occurring at speeds as "slow" as 0.9c. [1] https://what-if.xkcd.com/1/ https://what-if.xkcd.com/1/
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- snerbles 10y agoA large mass of water ice would make a decent ablative shield.
- CoolGuySteve 10y agoAccording to this paper, you can travel around 0.5 c before the radiation caused by colliding with interstellar hydrogen kills you: http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?paperID=23913 http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?paperID=2... "Going slow to avoid severe H irradiation sets an upper speed limit of v ~ 0.5 c. This velocity only gives a time dilation factor of about 15%, which would not substantially assist galaxy-scale voyages. Diffuse interstellar H atoms are the ultimate cosmic space mines and represent a formidable obstacle to interstellar travel."
- gech 10y agoCouldn't you put some kind of "snowplow" on the front so it pushes the oncoming detritus away to the sides?
- temuze 10y agoA reddit thread mentions that idea: https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/12nls5/speed_kills_highly_relativistic_spaceflight_would/ https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/12nls5/speed_kills...