[meteorite-list] Speed-of-light question

From: Chris Peterson <clp_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2009 09:46:42 -0600
Message-ID: <2E29685776C7418C9CFC31C331F9FA96_at_bellatrix>

> To get a ship merely very close to the speed of
> light would take much less energy, say the total
> energy output of a few galactic clusters,
> give or take...

Like I said, a mere engineering problem. Nothing in physics precludes a
battery on your ship with that amount of energy content. But damping
inertia... that's another matter completely.

Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com


----- Original Message -----
From: "Darren Garrison" <cynapse at charter.net>
To: "Chris Peterson" <clp at alumni.caltech.edu>
Cc: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 10:43 AM
Subject: Re: Re: [meteorite-list] Speed-of-light question


On Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:55:35 -0600, you wrote:

>Engines capable of steady acceleration are not impossible or fictional.
>They
>are real and already in use. It is a mere <g> engineering problem to
>produce
>one that can operate long enough to reach another star.
>

But the closer an object gets to the speed of light, the higher your
inertial
mass becomes-- so you are constantly having to use more and more energy,
pushing
harder and harder just to maintain that constant rate of acceleration. To
get
an object with a rest mass infinitely close to the speed of light would take
an
infinite amount of energy. To get a ship merely very close to the speed of
light would take much less energy, say the total energy output of a few
galactic
clusters, give or take...
Received on Wed 26 Aug 2009 11:46:42 AM PDT