14 ms·
Ask HN: What's an insanely fast way of space travel possible in the near future?
- trenchgun 6y agoLive as a digital copy, travel at the speed of light.
- cvaidya1986 6y agoYes! This could work! Lots of ancient literature refers to something similar so the idea has been there for millennia.
- karmakaze 6y agoThe catch is that the receiver has to be sent out first. And what difference does 'where' make when digital?
- PaulHoule 6y agoTiny light sail spacecraft don't need new physics. People have talked about going to 0.1 c and to another star that way, but rather if you can send a large number of those past 500 a.u. you can use the Sun's gravitational lens to image continents on planets in other solar systems, watch stars get wrecked by a black hole, and watch other civilization's TV programs. That same kind of telescope is how you get downlink from the interstellar filmcraft.
- rawgabbit 6y agoNASA is designing an engine that uses heat from a nuclear reactor to heat a propellant and expel it for thrust. https://www.wired.com/story/nasa-wants-to-send-nuclear-rockets-to-the-moon-and-mars/ https://www.wired.com/story/nasa-wants-to-send-nuclear-rocke... https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a18345717/nasa-ntp-nuclear-engines-mars/ https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a18345717/n...