Cheap Astronomy - Implausible Engineering, Ep. 3: We All Need Some Space

Hosted by Steve Nerlich.

A. Interstellar Travel.

There is so much imagined interstellar flitting about in star trek, wars etc, that it seems almost inevitable it will all really happen one day. That is, that we might set off from Earth in the morning and arrive at Alpha Centauri system in time for tea. It’s only 4.3 light years away after all.

B. Space Colony.

A standard theme of science fiction and science forecasting is that we’ll establish space colonies one day. This is certainly possible, if not likely, but there are a number of issues to think through. Most importantly, you need energy – so if you are going to build a real space colony that’s in space then the Earth – Moon Lagrange points 4 and 5 might be good since they keep pace with the Moon around its Earth orbit and so will get Earth-Moon levels of solar flux. Or you might float a gondola above the clouds of Venus and get even more solar flux – or you might do the traditional thing and build on the surface of a celestial body. The Moon is good for all sorts of reasons, although Mars tends to be where people look to.

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