Alpha Centauri in 30 years travel??

Turn off the light? o_O
 
Analoguesat said:
Light sails - but how do you slow them down again at the other end??
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Simple - turn the craft around about halfway, and use the sail as a brake as you head into the solar wind of the target star.
Or hope the target star has a planet that harbours a civilisation with sufficient technology maturity to build and operate laser-based light-sail accelerators/decelerators.
 
What if aliens have been sending us postage sized spaceships for years in the hope that we'll build a laser-based light-sail decelerator but we've just been enjoying the shooting stars... ;)
 
About time Alien technology gave Hawking's speech synthesiser a decent English voice: Even cheap Satnavs have a selection of better ones. Jeremy Clarkson? Joanna Lumley?
 
Lazarus said:
Even cheap Satnavs have a selection of better ones. Jeremy Clarkson? Joanna Lumley?
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At one point I had Homer Simpson on mine giving me directions, though maybe that wouldn't work very well when expounding on black holes...
 
Lazarus said:
About time Alien technology gave Hawking's speech synthesiser a decent English voice:
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The technology to give Prof Hawking a better voice came about several years ago but when it was offered to him he declined as people had become used to his first artificial voice.

The new technology also permits using your original voice as a basis for the artificial voice but, sadly, recordings don't exist of his unaffected voice. Or, at least, in sufficient quantity I guess.
 
I think the world is well used to the voice he uses now.

In fact the American accented voice makes some people think that he is American. During the feverish "debate" in the USA over Obamacare some idiot, trying to argue against it, said that if Hawking had been born in the UK then the NHS would have been unable to keep him alive and it was only private American health care that could do it! Hawking, I believe, has praised the NHS for its services.
 
Just another good reason to try and hang around till Im 90+
But even then I only get to see the launch ...perhaps if I can stretch that 90 to 120 > 130 ...I get to meet the Aliens ????

You know ...it's my greatest fear ..
Not the dying bit ...
That's written in stone ....but the anguish of what I'll be missing when I've gone ..
THAT'S distressing..
cest la vie <> cest la mort

I can only add this ...
It describes how I feel about such issues ..
From one of my heroes ...from his excellent book ...to an excellent movie ...
but this 'phrase' uttered by mizz Foster NEVER fails to bring forth tears...
 
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I can make it to Alpha in about 45 minuets, but clearing the Sun's gravitational field takes about a week, (and Alpha at the other end) and if that stupid cop isn't hiding out in the Kyiper belt behind some big ball of ice I can do it in about 5 days.

Big problem though, I'm running low on Dark Matter for the reactor, so have to stick around for a bit.
 
Terryl said:
I can make it to Alpha in about 45 minuets, but clearing the Sun's gravitational field takes about a week, (and Alpha at the other end) and if that stupid cop isn't hiding out in the Kyiper belt behind some big ball of ice I can do it in about 5 days.

Big problem though, I'm running low on Dark Matter for the reactor, so have to stick around for a bit.
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Any chance of me hitching a ride on your next visit Terry ...
I too want a chance to say ..'they should have sent a poet'
;)

...and I have my own Towel..?
 
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Vipersan said:
Any chance of me hitching a ride on your next visit Terry ...
I too want a chance to say ..'they should have sent a poet'
;)
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Have you had your shots for the XYwwuuuiihryXXZZ virus ??? (can't pronounce it in earth language) It has a bad effect on humans if you catch it, it causes their toes to sprout out their nose.
 
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