thulfi
20-03-13, 06:11 PM
I love this kind of stuff, and have recently been reading/researching the topic a fair bit in my spare time.
Anyway, the tiny dot visible in the middle right of the picture below is the Earth photographed from 3.7 billion miles away by the Voyager 1 in 1990 as the spacecraft was leaving our solar system.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Pale_Blue_Dot.png
Pretty awesome in my opinion. I think if anything highlights our potential as a species, it's our advancement in space travel and understanding of astronomy after 200,000 year of existence - and it's all happening now. If we figure out how not to destroy ourselves imagine what we could achieve in another 200,000 years.
The idea of developing a spacecraft that can possibly travel up to 1/10th the speed of light has been hypothesised and worked on for a while, from atomic detonations in space to fusion rockets. Or are we reaching the boundaries of mans abilities with the resources we'll ever be able to work with? Some scientists argue travel to other solar systems may be beyond the limits of humans, largely due to the vast distances that need to be covered and our life spans
The subject of interstellar travel is incredibly fascinating, and this geek* highly recommends it for those interested in the stuff.
*all because Apollo 13 was my favourite film as a child, honestly!
Anyway, the tiny dot visible in the middle right of the picture below is the Earth photographed from 3.7 billion miles away by the Voyager 1 in 1990 as the spacecraft was leaving our solar system.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Pale_Blue_Dot.png
Pretty awesome in my opinion. I think if anything highlights our potential as a species, it's our advancement in space travel and understanding of astronomy after 200,000 year of existence - and it's all happening now. If we figure out how not to destroy ourselves imagine what we could achieve in another 200,000 years.
The idea of developing a spacecraft that can possibly travel up to 1/10th the speed of light has been hypothesised and worked on for a while, from atomic detonations in space to fusion rockets. Or are we reaching the boundaries of mans abilities with the resources we'll ever be able to work with? Some scientists argue travel to other solar systems may be beyond the limits of humans, largely due to the vast distances that need to be covered and our life spans
The subject of interstellar travel is incredibly fascinating, and this geek* highly recommends it for those interested in the stuff.
*all because Apollo 13 was my favourite film as a child, honestly!