Some sobering news from a recent rocket science conference: It is highly improbable that humans will ever explore beyond the Solar System. This downbeat opinion comes from the Joint Propulsion Conference in Hartford, Connecticut, where future space propulsion challenges were discussed and debated. It is widely acknowledged that any form of interstellar travel would require [...]

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Understandable. To me, it seems like the only way to achieve that would be the wrap drive trick itself. If only it were possible in our lifetime.

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"Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another."
- Plato

I am stunned by the idea that propulsion scientists are so sure of themselves to make pronouncements ruling out future interstellar space travel. However, I think this conclusion will be falsified within 500-1000 years - if humanity survives and prospers.

These scientists should retire and allow a new generation to take over propulsion research who are not so jaded and depressed. They clearly have no faith in human potential. Very sad that this attitude of defeatism is pervasive in space propulsion circles.

Wrist-slitting all round folks

Well, as the article did say, it could be done with little advance in technology if someone were still here 100,000 years later to hear back from the probe. It's a long time, but not quite "never".

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Todd (Bowie, MD, US, North America, Earth, Sol System, Vega region, Local Bubble, Orion arm, Milky Way Galaxy, Local Group, Virgo A Cluster, Virgo supercluster, the universe in which spock is clean shaven)

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.

personal page: http://blog.astrosketches.info

History is full of 'impossibilities' that have been broken. Peremptory terms like 'never' should not be employed by scientists. The only faith that´s left to this heart of stone is the faith in human inventiveness, and it looks clear to me that we´re going to find a way.

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If you're careful enough, nothing bad or good will ever happen to you.

Argos. Well said, and I agree. There are a few avenues yet untested. While SR considerations will always ban faster than light speeds...close to light speeds with some radiation shielding will work. This is an area I dabble in not lightly, and secrecy issues preclude an open forum discussion. It looks like the tides of fortune have recently swung in my favor though, and I may be able to devote some fulltime research to it and an entrepreneurial venture in the next few years. Peace. pete

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A third rate theory forbids
A second rate theory explains after the fact
A first rate theory predicts...A. Lomonosov

In 2003 I presented a paper at that version of the Joint Propulsion Conference sponsored by these same folks at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Al. and described a system to get to PC in less than 10 years (hyper-optimistic), 20 years based on medium optimism, and 40 years (a piece of cake). The conference organizers scheduled my presentation patronizingly in a not so popular room at a not so popular time. At that same conference a "particle sail" system was presented by Dana Andrews whom I do not know personally even though he lives in or near the same county as I here in Washington, U.S.A. My proposal and the times quoted above include the deceleration times and the establishing of an orbit around PC (or whichever AC star has been shown to be the most desirable. If an orbit is not desired the trip can be shorter but the end ellipse, if any, is indeterminable.

From the linked story:Thinking in terms of the energy of the entire planet is assigning yourself to much too small a box. We'll need big chunks of the sun's energy and not a small amount of the contents of Jupiter and/or Saturn. The system is massive and will take at least 300 years to develop to the point where the Interstellar Vehicle can initiate the trip from Earth geosynchronous orbit. The power will be supplied by a solar polar orbiting photon beam generator capable of beaming 10^16 to 10^18 watts to photovoltaic receivers which will supply powerful ion engines using linear particle accelerators fed from automatically controlled mass/charge discriminators thus allowing the power to be distributed as needed. Total exhaust rate will be held to 200 to 400 kg/second at as near light velocity as we can make the accelerators work.

Obviously neither this system nor any of its major components has been assembled nor tested and lessons learned therefrom will have to be applied as our experience matures. When it is tested I may have to back off from some of my optimism and/or include major modifications. Googling on "interstellar transportation" will provide a number schemes for interstellar transportation. None of the ones I read will work as well as my proposed system. In fact I'm not convinced any of the others will work at all unless they are very much like mine.

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For those inclined to oppose human meddling with the structure of the universe or the composition and configuration of objects and groups of objects within the universe, consider:
Whether there is a limit to the magnitude of a modulation of chaos below which order remains invariant? Or, is order but a fiction invented by perspectives applied over finite, however large, time intervals?

The first of the three "Clarke's Laws":
When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009

That´s great. I wish you all the success, trinitree.

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If you're careful enough, nothing bad or good will ever happen to you.

I'm sure that if we found an Earth-like planet around a Sun-like star, that we will send a conventional rocket with robots, telescopes and some microbs (just in case life hadn't arose there) right away!
Even if it takes 10 000 years to get there.

The article covered Current Conventional Means of travel.

This means: It did NOT cover possible futuristic technology.

So for those of you complaining that the scientists were doomsdayers, especially YOU Jetlack, try actually paying attention to what was discussed.

Quoted for Truth.

You'd think these people would be familiar with the original Orion project, which could have produced a ship capable of making an interstellar flight at about 10% of lightspeed (though there was not nearly enough nuclear fuel at the time) in 1968.

The only reason it was never pursued was because of nuclear test and non-proliferation treaties. Obviously detonating a nuclear bomb or bombs for the purpose of lifting a craft into orbit is an unpopular idea. But it could be done, OR the craft could be assembled in orbit instead.

How many times has some one said it cant be done. How long did it take us to jump from almost no technology 1860 to now 140 and were alreadyin space and have computers and items like that. In the next like say 40 years were proably going to have a bigger technology boom and possibly the "warp drive" or other forms of interstellar travel could be invented. We humans walk up to the edge of possible and walk right by it into the impossible.

Argos. Thanks. pete

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A third rate theory forbids
A second rate theory explains after the fact
A first rate theory predicts...A. Lomonosov