4 ms·
Catch up and surpass something we launched decades ago, travelling (according to Wikipedia, entry was last edited .. today) 3.595 AU per year [1]. The question
by darklajid 14y ago
Catch up and surpass something we launched decades ago, travelling (according to Wikipedia, entry was last edited .. today) 3.595 AU per year [1].
The question you're asking is hard to answer: When do you want to catch up? If we send a new object to space today, which travels 5% faster, is that good enough? It won't pass Voyager 1 for a looooong time, but will eventually.
Is that what you're aiming for? Why? Or are you asking for a magical way to cross that distance (35 years of traveling) 'instantly'?
1: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=3.595+AU+per+year&dataset= http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=3.595+AU+per+year&d...
- Jach 14y agoConsidering c is 63,198 AU/yr, and Voyager 1's only about 123 AU away, there's still a lot of room left for future engineers in increasing the speed of our devices to very quickly surpass it. Will we achieve even a hundredth of c within the next 100 years? Depends.
- iuguy 14y agoJust wondering, is there any technology we've seen actually used today that could produce a hundredth of c within the next 100 years? Would this be something we could see with ion propulsion for example?
- madaxe 14y agoNot used, but planned. Nuclear propulsion. No real limit on speed, apart from C, although as you go farther/faster you need REALLY big ships to carry enough fuel. c.f. project Orion.