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Possible venues for experimentation and research: 1. Do we have or should we develop a technology to detect incoming bodies like that earlier? 2. Do we have or

Possible venues for experimentation and research: 1. Do we have or should we develop a technology to detect incoming bodies like that earlier? 2. Do we have or should we develop a propulsion technology and/or spacecraft that is able to intercept these bodies at some point in their trajectories and send back some useful information

jrowen 6y ago
From the article: This is precisely why an agency like ESA is developing its Comet Interceptor Mission, to be ready to chase future interstellar visitors. This is basically the thesis of the article and the person you're responding to: the "orthodox inquisionists" are already doing this stuff, because they're not actually as close-minded as Loeb is making them out to be.
XorNot 6y ago
We are doing both those things (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CA%BBOumuamua#Hypothetical_space_missions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CA%BBOumuamua#Hypothetical_sp...) We were doing those things before we even detected ʻOumuamua. Whether or not ʻOumuamua specifically is extraterrestrial - which is not worth considering based on weak evidence - didn't change anything. This is the problem: the evidence doesn't make the case, and "considering the possibility" doesn't lead anywhere interesting in terms of actual experimentation.
ThalesX 6y ago
What a thought! Billions of billions of stars, with planets and civilizations, pushing technology to new heights, but ultimately realizing that the best way to leave your handprint on the galactic cave wall is a Universe-wide message in a bottle. I’m afraid we have more chances of making ourselves known by randomly throwing these bottles, than by answering back to where it came from.
- ffhhj 6y ago
  Or it could be a civilization-in-a-bottle artifact with carefully programmed trajectory between several stars. If the message sender blew itself to nuclear ashes, its frozen siblings could have a new opportunity in a new system.

jrowen 6y ago

From the article: This is precisely why an agency like ESA is developing its Comet Interceptor Mission, to be ready to chase future interstellar visitors. This is basically the thesis of the article and the person you're responding to: the "orthodox inquisionists" are already doing this stuff, because they're not actually as close-minded as Loeb is making them out to be.

XorNot 6y ago

We are doing both those things (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CA%BBOumuamua#Hypothetical_space_missions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CA%BBOumuamua#Hypothetical_sp...) We were doing those things before we even detected ʻOumuamua. Whether or not ʻOumuamua specifically is extraterrestrial - which is not worth considering based on weak evidence - didn't change anything. This is the problem: the evidence doesn't make the case, and "considering the possibility" doesn't lead anywhere interesting in terms of actual experimentation.

ThalesX 6y ago

What a thought! Billions of billions of stars, with planets and civilizations, pushing technology to new heights, but ultimately realizing that the best way to leave your handprint on the galactic cave wall is a Universe-wide message in a bottle. I’m afraid we have more chances of making ourselves known by randomly throwing these bottles, than by answering back to where it came from.

ffhhj 6y ago
Or it could be a civilization-in-a-bottle artifact with carefully programmed trajectory between several stars. If the message sender blew itself to nuclear ashes, its frozen siblings could have a new opportunity in a new system.