How can we protect future manned space missions (read more below)?

Question

For instance, to date we have no means beyond increasing velocity of getting anywhere in reasonable time. The nearest stars are 10000 times as far away as the farthest planet in the Solar System, and it takes our craft years just to go from planet to planet. For those, who have not thought on these lines and think we can just find ways of increasing velocity, just think what happens to the shuttle when it re-enters what is very thin atmosphere - it burns up, and if the heat shields are slightly out of whack, people die.

That's the reality. At speeds just a fraction of light (many times faster than a shuttle re-entry), no craft could withstand entering the most sparsely spread dust or gas field.

What's the solution?

Answer 1

Well, if anyone knew the definitive answer for this one, I'm sure NASA would snap them up and offer them a job. However, using an ablative heat shield like those used in Apollo missions are much more effective than the resusable ceramic/composite shields used on the space shuttle, since they take advantage of the the fact that a great deal of the energy generated by re-entry is absorbed in the phase transition from solid to gas of the heat shield.

As far as dust or gas fields, if they have a constant density (or close to a constant density) the effects of travelling through it are much less than atmospheric re-entry, due to a constant decelleration and the fact that without a large gravity well at their center, they simply won't be dense enough to cause serious harm to a space craft.

Answer 2

There is likely no viable solution in our lifetime so instead of wasteing billions of dollors on something that makes no sense lets reduce taxes and money wasted and maybe more people could live healthier and happier.

Answer 3

Some sort of shielding system, I guess. Magnetic? Electric (polarization) Physical? You get to work on that :-)