3 ms·

I'm not objecting to it, my initial post was trying to emphasize the closeness of technologies capable of reaching the nearest stars, lasers are an option, but

I'm not objecting to it, my initial post was trying to emphasize the closeness of technologies capable of reaching the nearest stars, lasers are an option, but imo nuclear propulsion is "closer" in terms of time taken to achieve the energy densities needed to take humans there. Sure it's only a difference of a couple of decades at worst between the two but in the context of a human lifetime, that's significant.

Nevermark 2y ago
In what important sense is nuclear closer? If we sent a nuclear craft today, a future laser or other propulsion craft will still get there much sooner. Worse, we don’t actually have a nuclear craft design. By the time we worked out a design and built it, the other tech will already be ready. That is because other tech will require less mass, which will “massively” simplify and reduce cost of the venture. Given the time the trip will take, it will actually be decades at least, before the optimal time to design and send a ship - even if we had an unlimited budget with the only objective of getting there the soonest we can