If we discovered a way to reach the speed of light....(see details)...?

Question

If we discovered a way to propell an undestructable space craft to the speed of light (physically pushing it) how would we slow it down. Since the craft is traveling at the speed of light it becomes light and light never stops so how would we manage to turn the "craft" back into matter? Would it be possible to use gravity to slow down the "craft"?

Look the ship is light now it can't use rockets it cant do anything it needs something else to stop it that isn't part of the ship. So don't use the retro rockets cause they would no longer be matter.

Einstien proved that traveling at light you become light. (e=mc2)

Answer 1

It sounds like you are posing the question in order to settle an argument.
You put your own argument in the question, thereby answering it for everyone in this forum.
So, I will just come out with it...

YOU ARE BOTH WRONG!

Einstein's theory states that if matter accellerated to the speed of light, it becomes light. In your question, your undestructible craft isn't destroyed, its transmutated into something else, so that there really isn't anything to slow down. The craft is gone.

You might as well ask, if a space craft was caught in the sun's gravity and crashed into the sun, how would we get it back?
The craft is no longer made up of wires and metal and electronics. It is no longer a craft. It is no longer metal.

When the craft turns into light, it is utterly and irrecoverably destroyed. There is no craft and therefore nothing to slow down.
:-(

Answer 2

Things just don't become light when they travel at the speed of light. If we travel at the speed of sound, which is currently possible, we don't become sound. So how can you make up these bogus theories based on nothing and then ask a question. And to slow your "craft" down you could probably just use the opposite of the method you used to speed it up.

Answer 3

To accelerate any material object up to the speed of light would require INFINITE energy (...all the energy in the universe). Since energy and mass are equivalent, the object moving at the speed of light would have INFINITE mass (...all the mass in the universe).

Einstein's e=mc^2 does NOT prove that a material object moving at the speed of light becomes light, only that such a thing is impossible. None of Einstein's field equations so much as imply that any mass can be totally converted into light.

Answer 4

Since the known laws of physics would have to be violated to get the craft up to the speed of light, we have no basis for knowing what would be needed to get it to slow down.

Answer 5

Regardless of how much you push matter, it will never move at the speed of light or change into light. E=MC^2 tells you how much energy is represented by matter but not how to convert matter to energy. In particular, the presence of the "C" in the formula is not intended to imply that making matter go that speed would change it from matter to light, or even that it would be possible to make matter go that fast.

Answer 6

I know you can visualize sending an electron, for example, along a linear accelerator near the speed of light, say like .at 99999 percent of the speed of light. The sense is, well, can't we "push" that electron a little harder and finally get to lightspeed? The thing is, .9999999 percent increases without limit. You never get to "1." And while you're "pushing" this electron ever faster, it's mass is also increasing without limit. That is why it's impossible. Period. God dit it. Can't get around the cosmic speed limit - God will pull you over. Except for the speed of the expansion of empty space itself. That can well exceed the speed of light, relative to us.

Answer 7

ah dr mccoy, youre illogical as always. to go the speed of a train no more makes us trains then going the speed of light makes us light. they have already pushed light beyond the speed of light, it remained light nothing more. we would slow down such a vehicle thru mass gravitational pull same as we do to speed up and brake inertia of our satelites and telescopes etc

hahaha you make a vulcan laugh! dont say a theory proves anything, if it were proved itd no longer be a theory! some ppl are saying it goes beyond the "known" laws of yada yada and the sisters of the scifi gals. just bc it isnt know doesnt make it impossible. they had the means to make a jumbo jet in the 16th century. didnt make it impossible, just bc they believed flight was impossible to them. scientists love saying bumble bees cant fly bc of their design. yeah they do fly so this proves "they" have no clue as to what is or isnt possible yet.

to believe we cannot travel faster than light (FTL) is as silly as a belief in GLOBal goreWarming
http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/SpeedOfLight/FTL.html

Answer 8

We can stop the light by RELEASING THE LIGHT ENERGY. At the same time you can use several methods of breaking system like retro rocket, gravity and the others.

Use GRAVITY to ABSORB the energy.

Answer 9

Darth,That is a good question.It cannot be known at this time how to slow it down,but if we can get to that speed,we will surely figure out how.Currently,I am working on a theory that should get us to that speed.Slowing down will be another theory.

Answer 10

We would ask aliens to stop us.
Seriously, when you base a question on an impossible premise, you can't expect sensible answers.
Although I am sure you will get a lot of information from people who have intimate knowledge of warp drive.