4 ms·
Let's compute travel time assuming constant acceleration to halfway point, and then constant deceleration to the destination. 'a' is acceleration and 'd' is di
by Evidlo 8y ago
Let's compute travel time assuming constant acceleration to halfway point, and then constant deceleration to the destination. 'a' is acceleration and 'd' is distance to the star.
v(t) = at (velocity at time t)
∫v(t)dt = 0.5 a t^2 (distance traveled at time t)
0.5 a t^2 = 0.5 d ==> t = sqrt(d/a) (time to halfway point)
Plugging in d=4.5ly and a=9.81m/s yields 2.07 years to the halfway point, so that's just over 4 years total travel time at 1G.
- sliken 8y agoThe fun part is figuring out how far you go for each additional year. As experienced on board there's huge gains in distance for each extra year. But looks like you forgot about relativity and that starts having a pretty big impact.
- shpx 8y agoIf you take relativity into account (which you should, it's how the universe works after all), traveling 4.37 light years at 1G acceleration/deceleration will take 3.58 years from the perspective of the people on the ship or 6 years from the perspective of those still on Earth[0]. You'd reach 95% of the speed of light, which would take 4 gigatons of TNT[1] (and 4 more to decelerate) if it's just you and your ship and energy source weight nothing. That's definitely science fiction. 100 years is optimistic. [0] http://convertalot.com/relativistic_star_ship_calculator.html http://convertalot.com/relativistic_star_ship_calculator.htm... [1] https://www.omnicalculator.com/physics/relativistic-ke?v=v:.95!c,m:85!kg https://www.omnicalculator.com/physics/relativistic-ke?v=v:....