NASA Press conference.

[ancoats]

I do love your posts, Ancoats.... They have a sense of innocence rarely found today (:

my time on earth is never wasted and if i can make people smile its (job done)

 

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

my time on earth is never wasted and if i can make people smile its (job done)

 

[ancoats]

They all ignore me cause they don't know
I'm really a spaceman from those U.F.O's

 

[AlgarveBlu]

The fastest spacecraft we have takes 5 years to complete a light year so by today's technology that's 200 year

I think you might be out a bit there mate.

1 light year = 5.88 Trillion miles. X 39
=229.32 trillion miles. Divide that by 200 and it's way way longer than that even at our too speed.

I thought that as well as I read it would take us 17 thousand years to travel to the nearest star to us which is only 4 light years away!

 

[aguero93:20]

They all ignore me cause they don't know
I'm really a spaceman from those U.F.O's

Explains a lot tbh.

 

[west didsblue]

Breakthrough spacecraft claims they have technology to travel 1 lightyear in 5 years. Stephen Hawking launched (edit: the project, not the craft) it last year and they intend to go to one of Kepler's planets (4 lightyears away) within 20 years. Not sure if it's a prototype but the technology seems to be getting there.

Identifying the required technology is very different to actually having it. Actual development of the technology they are talking about would take decades and huge amounts of investment. Once the technology is proven it would take even more time and much more money to develop a spacecraft that could utilise the technology. It's way beyond everyone's lifetime.

 

[TonyM]

If they really want to get there faster then they should just paint a red stripe down the side and add an exhaust muffler.

 

[andyhinch]

Identifying the required technology is very different to actually having it. Actual development of the technology they are talking about would take decades and huge amounts of investment. Once the technology is proven it would take even more time and much more money to develop a spacecraft that could utilise the technology. It's way beyond everyone's lifetime.

Don't know why they don't just put a spoiler and some go faster strips on it, job will be sorted.

 

[Magicpole]

I thought that as well as I read it would take us 17 thousand years to travel to the nearest star to us which is only 4 light years away!

Yes, out by a factor of quite a few. :)

 

[Magicpole]

I thought that as well as I read it would take us 17 thousand years to travel to the nearest star to us which is only 4 light years away!

700,000 years according to the BBC