Hi! How many years do you think it will be until modern humanity develops it's first starship? Do you think the government would keep it secret at first? do you?
2007-05-09 11:55:11 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
2123, duh. It will be big news.
What do you take us for?
I do not 'bash' people, I merely state facts.
2007-05-09 12:36:52 · answer #1 · answered by Crazygirl ♥ aka GT 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We sent out the first starships in the 1970's.
Voyager I and II and the Pioneer spacecraft.
If you mean ones that will carry people?
Not until we find a way around this pesky relativity issue. other stars are really really really far away. Even if we had unlimited energy for thrust- the number of years it would take to get anywhere would exceed our lifespan.
The government wouldn't keep it a secret. It's hard to funnel off that much money from the public.
2007-05-09 19:01:06 · answer #2 · answered by Morey000 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
For this question, you would have to define what you think of a starship to be like - an interplanetary one (Earth - Mars) or interstellar (Sol - Proxima Centauri).
For an interplanetary ship, we have the technology now, but the incentive for NASA and most other planetary space programs is not ready to send anyone to Mars; the estimates are that Humans could be able to set foot on Mars within 10 years that would be a fraction of the cost than if we build ships and send people now.
An interstellar ship I would determine to be at least 500 years for a successful trip from just Sol to Proxima and back piloted, given that the vast distance involved would see any Human dead by the time they left Earth now and reached the edge of the Oort Cloud (that trip alone at our current technology takes at least 50 years.)
Since we are not likely to stumble on any theorised "Wormholes" or calculate how to bend space and time to cut across space instantly, we'd have to rely on either Plant ships, where entire colonies of Humans live and die on a ship travelling toward a new system for colonisation, or find a way to successfully cryogenically suspend ourselves for the duration of the voyage.
Per your second question, while I see a lot of reasons why each of the governments of Earth would want to keep it a secret from the public, I also don't see them being able to hide technology such as "starships" for long, since the budget would be enormous and people will wonder where all their tax money is going.
2007-05-09 19:04:08 · answer #3 · answered by Lief Tanner 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It may never happen. If it does, probably not in this millenium BUT I don't think anyone would want to pay for it. You can do anything on that grand a scale and hide it; why the paranoia ?
2007-05-09 18:59:58 · answer #4 · answered by Gene 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
at least a hundred years (for a long trip)
Warp drive or anything like probably wont come until the next millennium if ever
wont stay a secret very long
2007-05-09 19:57:26 · answer #5 · answered by 22 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If there was any of knowing for sure it wouldn't surprise me if it's not already beyond Pluto by a wide margin.
2007-05-09 19:43:57 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unlike some others, I don't think it will ever happen. We will all die of our own poisons, and destroy the planet and ourselves, long before technology that is impossible is invented.
2007-05-09 19:06:56 · answer #7 · answered by John B 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋