3 ms·
Perhaps you lack imagination. The first argument has been addressed by many, and in an interesting way by Alastair Reynolds in his Revelation Universe. Ships a
by lucian1900 14y ago
Perhaps you lack imagination. The first argument has been addressed by many, and in an interesting way by Alastair Reynolds in his Revelation Universe.
Ships apply 1G of acceleration for many years and thus slowly reach speeds close to that of light. The ships are both "aerodynamic" and encased in a thick layer of ice, so that small, rare impacts are survivable. This becomes a plot mechanism in a few of his stories.
- ChrisNorstrom 14y ago"Perhaps you lack imagination." Possible, but I doubt it. http://www.chrisnorstrom.com http://www.chrisnorstrom.com Ice won't do anything about the radiation. At that speed aerodynamic doesn't matter either. Nice try human ;P
- lucian1900 14y agoI didn't imply you lack imagination in general, just imagination on this particular subject. Radiation is a separate matter. That speed is precisely where aerodynamics start to matter again, as you hit stray particles. You want your profile to be as narrow as possible, so you're hitting as few particles as possible. Ice helps absorb the impact of such particles. Note that Alastair Reynolds is an astronomer, so he did think this bit through somewhat.