[AWPrime]

This is a bit of a split from the "If Astronomers Detected a Signal from an Alien Civilization". In it was said that practical FTL travel is impossible in our universe. I will assume for this thread that this will remain so.
Now we humans have the need to spread ourselves as far as possible. And maybe escape when the Earth/Sun goes bye bye for whatever reason. To do that I only see two options:

1. Seed ships - We make 'small' ships that will be sent out in every direction. When it finds a habitable planet it will grow and educate the human embryos into adults to colonize the planet. However I think this idea is too unreliable.

2. Mobile Planet – Creating artificial planets with moons that generate light. This is very slow, resource intensive and relies on having fusion technology or better. However it looks more reliable.

Any other ideas?

[Ludi]

Might want to work on preserving the ability of THIS planet to support life before making it any kind of priority to take life offplanet. Other than that, I don't have a problem with people wanting to go into space. If you want to do that, I say, you should, as long as it doesn't impinge on someone else's desire to remain here on Earth and live under good conditions.

But there's good evidence living in space is not practical, or maybe even possible.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m ... 84303/pg_1

[AWPrime]

Just see this discussion as seeking the best solution for what has to be done before the Sun turns into a red giant and burns us all.

[Cobra_Strike]

So long as we are not spreading ANY FORM of religion I do not see 'ark' style vessels as a bad idea...however its a better plan to stop messing up this planet (and forming the need for a new petri dish, or 4)

Even lacking FTL technology, there is some potential for very high speed craft...It does not matter if it takes 3000 years to make it to our near neighbors if no one is awake for the journey (sleeper ships).

Still, my vote is to not mess up what we have now.

[Ludi]

Yeah, at the rate we're going with this planet, we'll make sure we won't be around by the time the Sun goes nova. I think more significant discussions would be about how to preserve the ability of the Earth to support human life, though that is much less keen and gee-whiz.

Why not concern yourself with actual problems instead of imaginary ones?

[Chuckmak]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '
')Why not concern yourself with actual problems instead of imaginary ones?

[TheDude]

You'll probably not get responses from the more informed people here who'd tell you that any kind of extraterrestrial ecosystem will fail within a decade or so, or that a ship travelling at high velocities would quickly corrode from impacts with hydrogen atoms, cosmic rays, what have you. They've butted heads over and over with the Cornucopians like Dezakin and are about as interested in this stuff as other over-done subjects like 9/11.
I love the idea of moving beyond Earth but suspect it'll be a job for robots - Mechs. People are very delicate in construction; look at our track record in space too - Apollos 1+13, plenty of near-disasters in orbit, Challenger+Columbia failures, heaps of rockets blowing up on the pad. Not for the timid, and a space colony could give out at the slightest mar - read about the fleck of paint that cracked a shuttle window once! We should stay put, reduce our numbers, take much better care of the planet, and keep researching topics like this on the side. It's not the solution to our woes.
Although you should also Google Panspermia for an even weirder idea, which is rather Invasion of the Body Snatchers-esque.

[AWPrime]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheDude', 'Y')ou'll probably not get responses from the more informed people here who'd tell you that any kind of extraterrestrial ecosystem will fail within a decade or so

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AWPrime', 'N')ow we humans have the need to spread ourselves as far as possible.

[AWPrime]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('smallpoxgirl', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AWPrime', 'N')ow we humans have the need to spread ourselves as far as possible.

[rogerhb]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AWPrime', 'J')ust see this discussion as seeking the best solution for what has to be done before the Sun turns into a red giant and burns us all.

[TheDude]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AWPrime', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'o')r that a ship travelling at high velocities would quickly corrode from impacts with hydrogen atoms, cosmic rays, what have you.

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AWPrime', 'Y')ep, that is life.

[EnergyUnlimited]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheDude', 'G')eneration ships travelling far below C would still have to spend centuries being bombarded by radiation, and deal with degredation of their biosphere. Something along the lines of Arthur Clarke's Rama would be more robust since manned by automatons. It'll be a while before we're slapping together 50 mile long ships out at L1.
Were you inspired by Stephen Hawking saying we need to colonize extrasolar planets? Their was a quite lively post about that. Search the forums for Space Colonies and the like and you'll find plenty of good reads.

[AWPrime]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheDude', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AWPrime', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'o')r that a ship travelling at high velocities would quickly corrode from impacts with hydrogen atoms, cosmic rays, what have you.

[EnergyUnlimited]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AWPrime', '
')Option two isn't a Generation ship. Its a rogue planet that creates the needed gravity just by mass alone. Therefore its biosphere is as robust as Earths. Its light must be generated from its moon.

[AWPrime]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergyUnlimited', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AWPrime', '
')Option two isn't a Generation ship. Its a rogue planet that creates the needed gravity just by mass alone. Therefore its biosphere is as robust as Earths. Its light must be generated from its moon.

[rogerhb]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AWPrime', 'A')nd it assumes that we have fusion power to articifially create enough light from the moon.

[AWPrime]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rogerhb', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AWPrime', 'A')nd it assumes that we have fusion power to articifially create enough light from the moon.