Can you turbocharge a starship so we could get the hell out of here?

Question

What I have in mind is something roughly analogous to putting a blower on a big block Chevy engine.

Answer 1

Lots of very smart people have been thinking of this for a long time, and they did come up with something that sounds like what I think you are describing. Bussard ramjets sucks hydrogen in with a powerful magnetic field and use it to fuel a massive fusion engine, which propels the starship! The advantage is that it never runs out of fuel. I recommend reading Ringworld or Protector by Larry Niven; he used this idea a lot in his writing.

However, there is some debate as to how well this would work. You need to first pull the hydrogen towards your ship, then make it approximately match the speed of your ship so you can collect it for your engine. This would probably require just about as much energy as you get out of it from fusion if you are travelling at interstellar speeds. There is also a problem with deploying such a large magnet in space: if there are any iron asteroids nearby, you will find out rather quickly!

A better bet is to use some sort of beam to push the ship up to enormous speeds, like focusing a powerful laser on a solar sail. If you want to read more about how to get out of dodge entirely, read this:

http://www.andrews-space.com/images/videos/PAPERS/Pub-InterstellarTransportation(200307).pdf

Answer 2

Dude, The most you're gonna get out of a blown big block is around 1000 hp (on gasoline.) The space shuttle uses 3 Boeing engines that each produce over 12,000,000 horsepower each!

Even with that much power, the Shuttle only orbits at 17,000 mph, which is fast by ground terms, but even at this speed, it would take centuries to get to the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, which doesn't even have earth-like planets.

Looks like you're stuck here with the rest of us.

(PS - what is commonly refered to as a "blower" is a supercharger, not a turbocharger.)

Answer 3

U are on the BEST star ship there is that I know about. The good Earth is on a very long voyage and the main thing that bothers u is u don't have any control.

Answer 4

Sadly, no.