3 ms·
> withstand, say, a few million years in orbit > ...scale of industry They don't have to do that. The probe just has to make more "child probes" before it die
by ericb 3y ago
> withstand, say, a few million years in orbit
> ...scale of industry
They don't have to do that. The probe just has to make more "child probes" before it dies. You don't need a huge industry if they are self-replicating. You need only one working probe to start, the rest handles itself.
- actionfromafar 3y agoThe "only" there does a lot of work. :-) And it has to survive for millions of years until it reaches a new solar system without something to "feed" on. In many ways it seems easier to make a Neuman probe which can survive within a solar system than something which can travel to another.
- gremlinsinc 3y agoit's only 75k to our nearest neighbor, and that's with current craft speeds, there's theoretical ideas for craft that's faster using solar sails and much smaller lower mass that might do it in a century.