2006-08-21 18:43:21 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Ok for those who take this literally, let's say "star systems", OK? :)
2006-08-21 18:52:15 · update #1
A full scale colonization of another star system will require huge amounts of resources, so we won't bother with that until we have a really damn good reason to try it.
The most obvious stimulus to force us off Earth is over-population. However, we won't just jump from a crowded Earth to another solar system, we'll colonize our own neighbourhood first, settling on moons, asteroids, space stations, maybe even terraforming planets. That process itself will probably take a few thousand years, and then we'll need a few thousand years more to completely push the population limitations of the entire solar system.
So let's say 10,000 years go by. By this point, I still don't think we'll have any fancy warp speed engines, but I still think we'll attempt to leave the solar system in lesser than light speed ships. See, at this time, alot of people are completely used to living in outer space, never setting foot on an actual planetary surface, so I don't think they'll be too hardpressed for volunteers to live on a spaceship for a few hundred years. You also have to consider that medical advances could bring the average life expectancy up by hundreds of years, so a 400 year voyage might not seem that bad.
Of course, the ship will lose contact with Earth. This won't be the building of some huge Earth based galactic empire, this will be a one-off seeding event. Once the ship is out of communication range, it is completetly independent.
2006-08-21 21:06:37 · answer #1 · answered by numbnuts 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Perhaps we could colonize space if antimatter could be incorporated into propulsion systems.
The main problems I forsee are:
-Antimatter propulsion is science fiction at this point
-Producing antimatter in not feasable; we would have to find it in large quantities. The radioactive Van Allen belts around gas giants such as Jupiter might be a possibility.
-We would have to go fast enough to travel hundreds of light years, yet slow enough that our human bodies don't turn to jelly.
-We might blow ourselves up before technology gets that far
edit: For those that think we could travel to another star without "warp drives"...consider this:
It would take 2400 years at "conventional" speed just to get to the nearest star, Proxima Centauri. We also know there is no possible life there. This means "conventional" travel will get us nowhere beyond our solar system...
2006-08-22 02:07:53 · answer #2 · answered by Will J. 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'd say about 500 years tops (if we survive that long!). By that time, we should have the technology for a drive system that can at least get to within maybe 10% the speed of light (Alpha Centauri system in about 40 years) or better. It can be done....after all, if one believed in conventional wisdom, neither the Wright Brothers' flights or the moon landings would have ever happened.
2006-08-22 01:56:24 · answer #3 · answered by swilliamrex 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
When? A LONG time in the future, because the stars are SO far away we have no possibility to travel that far with current technology. Maybe in hundreds of years. Maybe sooner if there is a breakthrough in space travel.
Why? Because that is what we do. Expand to occupy all available habitable locations.
2006-08-22 10:07:57 · answer #4 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Once we can effectively break the speed-of-light barrier. Space time would have to be intentionally warped while your ship is suspended in a "bubble" of space-time outside of the regular fabric of the universe. It can then cross over to another location in space-time when a region of it is brought closer as a result of the warping. This is very similar to the way Star Trek: TNG depicts faster than light travel (warp field, subspace, etc.).
2006-08-22 01:55:57 · answer #5 · answered by narcissisticguy 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
well about the when part, that i don't know, but am quite sure that it will not be in the near future.
the why part is simple, why does America attack Iraq, why did the British colonize Africa, and parts of Asia because they want access to resources, and that is the reason why humans will one day look to the stars (or probably planets) to colonize them.
2006-08-22 07:30:02 · answer #6 · answered by Librarian 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, not the stars themselves.
As they say, living on a sun is not compatible with human life.
2006-08-22 01:48:40 · answer #7 · answered by Lisa the Pooh 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Not until every child on this planet is fed because otherwise we haven't even reached the self-sustaining level of evolution.
2006-08-22 05:05:46 · answer #8 · answered by R. F 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It'll never happen cuz it takes too long to get to the nearest star (besides the sun) and you would burn up getting there
2006-08-22 01:48:49 · answer #9 · answered by â? Phoebe 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I have no idea, but I'll sure feel sorry for the stars.
2006-08-22 01:50:36 · answer #10 · answered by Tuna-San 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋