100 Year Starship

A NASA official may have made a 35-million-mile slip of the tongue.

The director of NASA's Ames Research Center in California casually let
slip mention of the 100-Year Starship recently, a new program funded by
the super-secret government agency, DARPA. In a talk at San Francisco's
Long Conversation conference, Simon “Pete” Worden said DARPA has $1M to
spend, plus another $100,000 from NASA itself, for the program, which
will initially develop a new kind of propulsion engine that will take us
to Mars or beyond.

There's only one problem: The astronauts won't come back.

The 100-year ship would leave Earth with the intention of colonizing a
planet, but it would likely be a one-way trip because of the time it
takes to travel 35 million miles. That’s a daunting prospect, partly
because of the ethical dilemma, and partly because it may be the only
recourse.

"What psychological challenges should we anticipate in those who
volunteer in good faith and with great courage, yet find themselves
confronting misgivings or loneliness or feelings of rage or beset with
mental illness?" asked Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist and member of the
Fox News Medical A-Team.


A NASA spacecraft has been beaming to Earth incredibly detailed pictures
of the surface of Mars. And the beautiful colors and rich textures of
the red planet will shock you.


There's one other bizarre aspect to the plan: Humans would have to be
“adapted” to the alien world, Worden said, instead of figuring out a way
to make the planet more hospitable to them.

“The human space program is now really aimed at settling other worlds,”
Worden said during his talk. “Twenty years ago you whispered that in
dark bars and got fired.” (Worden actually was fired, he confessed
during the talk, under the Bush administration.)

Since that revelation, hundreds of news reports about the program have
theorized that the substantial budget indicates the Hundred Year
Starship is a dramatic shift for the stalled space program, not just a
research project; others suggest it is a serious attempt to find a way
to Mars. And NASA? The space agency seems to be dodging all questions.

FoxNews.com first contacted NASA’s Ames Research Center last week and
scheduled a call with Worden for Monday. The call was postponed to
Wednesday. Late Wednesday the space agency postponed again, before
finally canceling the interview, citing Worden’s busy schedule.

After a week and a half, DARPA issued a press release announcing the
program -- but conveying no more information than in Worden's initial
speech.

But what is the Hundred Year Starship? Some experts argue that any
program that suggests putting humans into space for their entire life,
or for multiple generations, is doomed from the start, since many people
react negatively to the idea of leaving the planet and never returning.
Others are more supportive, saying it is the only way to settle a space
colony.

New exploration
Speculation about colonization takes many forms, and some of the
freshest ideas sound a bit peculiar. Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Paul
Davies, who wrote in the Journal of Cosmology recently, suggest sending
four astronauts on a one-way mission who “establish their presence” and
do not come back. The suggestion is to send supplies to them
occasionally, but the risks are similar to what Columbus undertook to
explore the new world. (That analogy is a bit suspect, however: Columbus
was most famous for actually returning.)

Les Johnson, a well-respected science author, spoke to FoxNews.com and
agreed with the plan: a one-way, hundred-year mission may be the only
way to get to Mars or other planets.

The main issue has to do with a basic physics conundrum. In order to
travel the great distance to Mars (about 35 million miles), a starship
would need a tremendous amount of fuel. Yet fuel adds more weight -- in
fact, every pound you add to a ship requires 4 pounds of fuel. The more
fuel you add, the more you need simply to move the ship's bulk, making
it impossible to go one-way to Mars, much less roundtrip.

Johnson said the only solution is a longer mission using some form of
propulsion that has not even been invented yet, or is still untested.
One is a massive solar sail, which captures energy from the sun. Another
is a fusion reactor that generates power without any on-board fuel.

Dr. Chris DePree, who heads the Bradley Observatory, also helped fill in
some gaps on a 100-year mission to another planet. “It seems like the
only realistic way forward, if we really want to colonize the solar
system, is to have one-way trips,” DePree told FoxNews.com. “It might be
that technology improves, and the grandchildren of those first Martian
colonists return to Earth.”

He also explained what “adapting humans” means: The suggestion sounds
absurd, but science may actually have more luck developing new breathing
apparatuses or using chemical injections to make humans able to live on
a foreign world than developing technology for "terraforming" a planet.

As to the question of a one-way mission, DePree says the idea is not as
hush-hush as you might expect. NASA doesn't intend for a suicide
mission, he said, but rather is debating the idea that an astronaut may
live out his or her natural life on another planet and never return to
Earth. Johnson said there are astronauts who have already volunteered
for one-way missions before, and it's not a ludicrous proposition.

Swirling controversy
Even with these explanations, there is still wild speculation about the
program. Worden mentioned the idea of working with third-parties to help
fund future missions. He said Larry Page, the Google founder, asked how
much it would cost to fund the mission (the answer: about $10 billion).
This begs the question: is NASA ready to leverage its work by enlisting
private enterprises?

Some scientists have wondered how the 100-Year Starship would deal with
the effects of long-term space travel. Johnson said that even after
spending a few months in space, the wear and tear starts to show --
astronauts who have visited the Space Station often cannot walk for a
few days. Johnson said muscle mass starts to decline and bone density
decreases after prolonged periods in outer space.

Short of an official news release, one that spells out exactly how the
starship program will proceed, many assume that the program is just in
an early stage. Johnson said the funding level of just $1.1M sounds like
it is simply for research.

Worden may have slipped by revealing the program, but -- as evidenced by
NASA’s lack of cooperation -- it may be too early for any new revelations.

yeah... the One Million Trip...

On Oct 30, 1:18*am, Saul Levy wrote:
Let's send the IDIOT PROFOUND EARTH SCIENCE OSSIFERS, HVAC!

They are MORE THEN READY TO LEAVE THE EARTH FOR GOOD!

And BEERTbrainIDIOT'S PULSE FUSION NONSENSE COULD POWER THE SHIP!

It FITS! *And we won't have to listen to them ever again!

BAWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Pete's been with DARPA long enough NOT to make any mistakes.

Saul Levy

On Fri, 29 Oct 2010 14:41:45 -0700, HVAC wrote:
A NASA official may have made a 35-million-mile slip of the tongue.

The director of NASA's Ames Research Center in California casually let
slip mention of the 100-Year Starship recently, a new program funded by
the super-secret government agency, DARPA. In a talk at San Francisco's
Long Conversation conference, Simon “Pete” Worden said DARPA has $1M to
spend, plus another $100,000 from NASA itself, for the program, which
will initially develop a new kind of propulsion engine that will take us
to Mars or beyond.

There's only one problem: The astronauts won't come back.

The 100-year ship would leave Earth with the intention of colonizing a
planet, but it would likely be a one-way trip because of the time it
takes to travel 35 million miles. That’s a daunting prospect, partly
because of the ethical dilemma, and partly because it may be the only
recourse.

"What psychological challenges should we anticipate in those who
volunteer in good faith and with great courage, yet find themselves
confronting misgivings or loneliness or feelings of rage or beset with
mental illness?" asked Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist and member of the
Fox News Medical A-Team.

A NASA spacecraft has been beaming to Earth incredibly detailed pictures
of the surface of Mars. And the beautiful colors and rich textures of
the red planet will shock you.

There's one other bizarre aspect to the plan: Humans would have to be
“adapted” to the alien world, Worden said, instead of figuring out a way
to make the planet more hospitable to them.

“The human space program is now really aimed at settling other worlds,”
Worden said during his talk. “Twenty years ago you whispered that in
dark bars and got fired.” (Worden actually was fired, he confessed
during the talk, under the Bush administration.)

Since that revelation, hundreds of news reports about the program have
theorized that the substantial budget indicates the Hundred Year
Starship is a dramatic shift for the stalled space program, not just a
research project; others suggest it is a serious attempt to find a way
to Mars. And NASA? The space agency seems to be dodging all questions.

FoxNews.com first contacted NASA’s Ames Research Center last week and
scheduled a call with Worden for Monday. The call was postponed to
Wednesday. Late Wednesday the space agency postponed again, before
finally canceling the interview, citing Worden’s busy schedule.

After a week and a half, DARPA issued a press release announcing the
program -- but conveying no more information than in Worden's initial
speech.

But what is the Hundred Year Starship? Some experts argue that any
program that suggests putting humans into space for their entire life,
or for multiple generations, is doomed from the start, since many people
react negatively to the idea of leaving the planet and never returning.
Others are more supportive, saying it is the only way to settle a space
colony.

New exploration
Speculation about colonization takes many forms, and some of the
freshest ideas sound a bit peculiar. Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Paul
Davies, who wrote in the Journal of Cosmology recently, suggest sending
four astronauts on a one-way mission who “establish their presence” and
do not come back. The suggestion is to send supplies to them
occasionally, but the risks are similar to what Columbus undertook to
explore the new world. (That analogy is a bit suspect, however: Columbus
was most famous for actually returning.)

Les Johnson, a well-respected science author, spoke to FoxNews.com and
agreed with the plan: a one-way, hundred-year mission may be the only
way to get to Mars or other planets.

The main issue has to do with a basic physics conundrum. In order to
travel the great distance to Mars (about 35 million miles), a starship
would need a tremendous amount of fuel. Yet fuel adds more weight -- in
fact, every pound you add to a ship requires 4 pounds of fuel. The more
fuel you add, the more you need simply to move the ship's bulk, making
it impossible to go one-way to Mars, much less roundtrip.

Johnson said *the only solution is a longer mission using some form of
propulsion that has not even been invented yet, or is still untested.
One is a massive solar sail, which captures energy from the sun. Another
is a fusion reactor that generates power without any on-board fuel.

Dr. Chris DePree, who heads the Bradley Observatory, also helped fill in
some gaps on a 100-year mission to another planet. “It seems like the
only realistic way forward, if we really want to colonize the solar
system, is to have one-way trips,” DePree told FoxNews.com. “It might be
that technology improves, and the grandchildren of those first Martian
colonists return to Earth.”

He also explained what “adapting humans” means: The suggestion sounds
absurd, but science may actually have more luck developing new breathing
apparatuses or using chemical injections to make humans able to live on
a foreign world than developing technology for "terraforming" a planet.

As to the question of a one-way mission, DePree says the idea is not as
hush-hush as you might expect. NASA doesn't intend for a suicide
mission, he said, but rather is debating the idea that an astronaut may
live out his or her natural life on another planet and never return to
Earth. Johnson said there are astronauts who have already volunteered
for one-way missions before, and it's not a ludicrous proposition.

Swirling controversy
Even with these explanations, there is still wild speculation about the
program. Worden mentioned the idea of working with third-parties to help
fund future missions. He said Larry Page, the Google founder, asked how
much it would cost to fund the mission (the answer: about $10 billion).
This begs the question: is NASA ready to leverage its work by enlisting
private enterprises?

Some scientists have wondered how the 100-Year Starship would deal with
the effects of long-term space travel. Johnson said that even after
spending a few months in space, the wear and tear starts to show --
astronauts who have visited the Space Station often cannot walk for a
few days. Johnson said muscle mass starts to decline and bone density
decreases after prolonged periods in outer space.

Short of an official news release, one that spells out exactly how the
starship program will proceed, many assume that the program is just in
an early stage. Johnson said the funding level of just $1.1M sounds like
it is simply for research.

Worden may have slipped by revealing the program, but -- as evidenced by
NASA’s lack of cooperation -- it may be too early for any new revelations.

On Oct 29, 2:41*pm, HVAC wrote:
A NASA official may have made a 35-million-mile slip of the tongue.

The director of NASA's Ames Research Center in California casually let
slip mention of the 100-Year Starship recently, a new program funded by
the super-secret government agency, DARPA. In a talk at San Francisco's
Long Conversation conference, Simon Pete Worden said DARPA has $1M to
spend, plus another $100,000 from NASA itself, for the program, which
will initially develop a new kind of propulsion engine that will take us
to Mars or beyond.

There's only one problem: The astronauts won't come back.

The 100-year ship would leave Earth with the intention of colonizing a
planet, but it would likely be a one-way trip because of the time it
takes to travel 35 million miles. That s a daunting prospect, partly
because of the ethical dilemma, and partly because it may be the only
recourse.

"What psychological challenges should we anticipate in those who
volunteer in good faith and with great courage, yet find themselves
confronting misgivings or loneliness or feelings of rage or beset with
mental illness?" asked Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist and member of the
Fox News Medical A-Team.

A NASA spacecraft has been beaming to Earth incredibly detailed pictures
of the surface of Mars. And the beautiful colors and rich textures of
the red planet will shock you.

There's one other bizarre aspect to the plan: Humans would have to be
adapted to the alien world, Worden said, instead of figuring out a way
to make the planet more hospitable to them.

The human space program is now really aimed at settling other worlds,
Worden said during his talk. Twenty years ago you whispered that in
dark bars and got fired. (Worden actually was fired, he confessed
during the talk, under the Bush administration.)

Since that revelation, hundreds of news reports about the program have
theorized that the substantial budget indicates the Hundred Year
Starship is a dramatic shift for the stalled space program, not just a
research project; others suggest it is a serious attempt to find a way
to Mars. And NASA? The space agency seems to be dodging all questions.

FoxNews.com first contacted NASA s Ames Research Center last week and
scheduled a call with Worden for Monday. The call was postponed to
Wednesday. Late Wednesday the space agency postponed again, before
finally canceling the interview, citing Worden s busy schedule.

After a week and a half, DARPA issued a press release announcing the
program -- but conveying no more information than in Worden's initial
speech.

But what is the Hundred Year Starship? Some experts argue that any
program that suggests putting humans into space for their entire life,
or for multiple generations, is doomed from the start, since many people
react negatively to the idea of leaving the planet and never returning.
Others are more supportive, saying it is the only way to settle a space
colony.

New exploration
Speculation about colonization takes many forms, and some of the
freshest ideas sound a bit peculiar. Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Paul
Davies, who wrote in the Journal of Cosmology recently, suggest sending
four astronauts on a one-way mission who establish their presence and
do not come back. The suggestion is to send supplies to them
occasionally, but the risks are similar to what Columbus undertook to
explore the new world. (That analogy is a bit suspect, however: Columbus
was most famous for actually returning.)

Les Johnson, a well-respected science author, spoke to FoxNews.com and
agreed with the plan: a one-way, hundred-year mission may be the only
way to get to Mars or other planets.

The main issue has to do with a basic physics conundrum. In order to
travel the great distance to Mars (about 35 million miles), a starship
would need a tremendous amount of fuel. Yet fuel adds more weight -- in
fact, every pound you add to a ship requires 4 pounds of fuel. The more
fuel you add, the more you need simply to move the ship's bulk, making
it impossible to go one-way to Mars, much less roundtrip.

Johnson said *the only solution is a longer mission using some form of
propulsion that has not even been invented yet, or is still untested.
One is a massive solar sail, which captures energy from the sun. Another
is a fusion reactor that generates power without any on-board fuel.

Dr. Chris DePree, who heads the Bradley Observatory, also helped fill in
some gaps on a 100-year mission to another planet. It seems like the
only realistic way forward, if we really want to colonize the solar
system, is to have one-way trips, DePree told FoxNews.com. It might be
that technology improves, and the grandchildren of those first Martian
colonists return to Earth.

He also explained what adapting humans means: The suggestion sounds
absurd, but science may actually have more luck developing new breathing
apparatuses or using chemical injections to make humans able to live on
a foreign world than developing technology for "terraforming" a planet.

As to the question of a one-way mission, DePree says the idea is not as
hush-hush as you might expect. NASA doesn't intend for a suicide
mission, he said, but rather is debating the idea that an astronaut may
live out his or her natural life on another planet and never return to
Earth. Johnson said there are astronauts who have already volunteered
for one-way missions before, and it's not a ludicrous proposition.

Swirling controversy
Even with these explanations, there is still wild speculation about the
program. Worden mentioned the idea of working with third-parties to help
fund future missions. He said Larry Page, the Google founder, asked how
much it would cost to fund the mission (the answer: about $10 billion).
This begs the question: is NASA ready to leverage its work by enlisting
private enterprises?

Some scientists have wondered how the 100-Year Starship would deal with
the effects of long-term space travel. Johnson said that even after
spending a few months in space, the wear and tear starts to show --
astronauts who have visited the Space Station often cannot walk for a
few days. Johnson said muscle mass starts to decline and bone density
decreases after prolonged periods in outer space.

Short of an official news release, one that spells out exactly how the
starship program will proceed, many assume that the program is just in
an early stage. Johnson said the funding level of just $1.1M sounds like
it is simply for research.

Worden may have slipped by revealing the program, but -- as evidenced by
NASA s lack of cooperation -- it may be too early for any new revelations..

$1.1M isn't a year's worth of office TP and postage. Serious R&D on
any such "starship" (even a one-way mission) is worth at least $1.1B/
year.

A think tank of just a few (half dozen) serious wizards and their
supercomputer simulator (including 3D animations) is gong to run at
least $1.1M/year.

Not including their office space, supercomputers or the staff to
create and run those 3D animations, perhaps $1.1M could cover a dozen.

~ BG

On Oct 30, 5:07*am, Brad Guth wrote:
On Oct 29, 2:41*pm, HVAC wrote:



A NASA official may have made a 35-million-mile slip of the tongue.

The director of NASA's Ames Research Center in California casually let
slip mention of the 100-Year Starship recently, a new program funded by
the super-secret government agency, DARPA. In a talk at San Francisco's
Long Conversation conference, Simon Pete Worden said DARPA has $1M to
spend, plus another $100,000 from NASA itself, for the program, which
will initially develop a new kind of propulsion engine that will take us
to Mars or beyond.

There's only one problem: The astronauts won't come back.

The 100-year ship would leave Earth with the intention of colonizing a
planet, but it would likely be a one-way trip because of the time it
takes to travel 35 million miles. That s a daunting prospect, partly
because of the ethical dilemma, and partly because it may be the only
recourse.

"What psychological challenges should we anticipate in those who
volunteer in good faith and with great courage, yet find themselves
confronting misgivings or loneliness or feelings of rage or beset with
mental illness?" asked Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist and member of the
Fox News Medical A-Team.

A NASA spacecraft has been beaming to Earth incredibly detailed pictures
of the surface of Mars. And the beautiful colors and rich textures of
the red planet will shock you.

There's one other bizarre aspect to the plan: Humans would have to be
adapted to the alien world, Worden said, instead of figuring out a way
to make the planet more hospitable to them.

The human space program is now really aimed at settling other worlds,
Worden said during his talk. Twenty years ago you whispered that in
dark bars and got fired. (Worden actually was fired, he confessed
during the talk, under the Bush administration.)

Since that revelation, hundreds of news reports about the program have
theorized that the substantial budget indicates the Hundred Year
Starship is a dramatic shift for the stalled space program, not just a
research project; others suggest it is a serious attempt to find a way
to Mars. And NASA? The space agency seems to be dodging all questions.

FoxNews.com first contacted NASA s Ames Research Center last week and
scheduled a call with Worden for Monday. The call was postponed to
Wednesday. Late Wednesday the space agency postponed again, before
finally canceling the interview, citing Worden s busy schedule.

After a week and a half, DARPA issued a press release announcing the
program -- but conveying no more information than in Worden's initial
speech.

But what is the Hundred Year Starship? Some experts argue that any
program that suggests putting humans into space for their entire life,
or for multiple generations, is doomed from the start, since many people
react negatively to the idea of leaving the planet and never returning.
Others are more supportive, saying it is the only way to settle a space
colony.

New exploration
Speculation about colonization takes many forms, and some of the
freshest ideas sound a bit peculiar. Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Paul
Davies, who wrote in the Journal of Cosmology recently, suggest sending
four astronauts on a one-way mission who establish their presence and
do not come back. The suggestion is to send supplies to them
occasionally, but the risks are similar to what Columbus undertook to
explore the new world. (That analogy is a bit suspect, however: Columbus
was most famous for actually returning.)

Les Johnson, a well-respected science author, spoke to FoxNews.com and
agreed with the plan: a one-way, hundred-year mission may be the only
way to get to Mars or other planets.

The main issue has to do with a basic physics conundrum. In order to
travel the great distance to Mars (about 35 million miles), a starship
would need a tremendous amount of fuel. Yet fuel adds more weight -- in
fact, every pound you add to a ship requires 4 pounds of fuel. The more
fuel you add, the more you need simply to move the ship's bulk, making
it impossible to go one-way to Mars, much less roundtrip.

Johnson said *the only solution is a longer mission using some form of
propulsion that has not even been invented yet, or is still untested.
One is a massive solar sail, which captures energy from the sun. Another
is a fusion reactor that generates power without any on-board fuel.

Dr. Chris DePree, who heads the Bradley Observatory, also helped fill in
some gaps on a 100-year mission to another planet. It seems like the
only realistic way forward, if we really want to colonize the solar
system, is to have one-way trips, DePree told FoxNews.com. It might be
that technology improves, and the grandchildren of those first Martian
colonists return to Earth.

He also explained what adapting humans means: The suggestion sounds
absurd, but science may actually have more luck developing new breathing
apparatuses or using chemical injections to make humans able to live on
a foreign world than developing technology for "terraforming" a planet.

As to the question of a one-way mission, DePree says the idea is not as
hush-hush as you might expect. NASA doesn't intend for a suicide
mission, he said, but rather is debating the idea that an astronaut may
live out his or her natural life on another planet and never return to
Earth. Johnson said there are astronauts who have already volunteered
for one-way missions before, and it's not a ludicrous proposition.

Swirling controversy
Even with these explanations, there is still wild speculation about the
program. Worden mentioned the idea of working with third-parties to help
fund future missions. He said Larry Page, the Google founder, asked how
much it would cost to fund the mission (the answer: about $10 billion).
This begs the question: is NASA ready to leverage its work by enlisting
private enterprises?

Some scientists have wondered how the 100-Year Starship would deal with
the effects of long-term space travel. Johnson said that even after
spending a few months in space, the wear and tear starts to show --
astronauts who have visited the Space Station often cannot walk for a
few days. Johnson said muscle mass starts to decline and bone density
decreases after prolonged periods in outer space.

Short of an official news release, one that spells out exactly how the
starship program will proceed, many assume that the program is just in
an early stage. Johnson said the funding level of just $1.1M sounds like
it is simply for research.

Worden may have slipped by revealing the program, but -- as evidenced by
NASA s lack of cooperation -- it may be too early for any new revelations.

$1.1M isn't a year's worth of office TP and postage. *Serious R&D on
any such "starship" (even a one-way mission) is worth at least $1.1B/
year.

A think tank of just a few (half dozen) serious wizards and their
supercomputer simulator (including 3D animations) is gong to run at
least $1.1M/year.

Not including their office space, supercomputers or the staff to
create and run those 3D animations, perhaps $1.1M could cover a dozen.

*~ BG


And fools are still believing it. When will they learn?

On Oct 29, 11:35*pm, Warhol wrote:
On Oct 30, 5:07*am, Brad Guth wrote:





On Oct 29, 2:41*pm, HVAC wrote:

A NASA official may have made a 35-million-mile slip of the tongue.

The director of NASA's Ames Research Center in California casually let
slip mention of the 100-Year Starship recently, a new program funded by
the super-secret government agency, DARPA. In a talk at San Francisco's
Long Conversation conference, Simon Pete Worden said DARPA has $1M to
spend, plus another $100,000 from NASA itself, for the program, which
will initially develop a new kind of propulsion engine that will take us
to Mars or beyond.

There's only one problem: The astronauts won't come back.

The 100-year ship would leave Earth with the intention of colonizing a
planet, but it would likely be a one-way trip because of the time it
takes to travel 35 million miles. That s a daunting prospect, partly
because of the ethical dilemma, and partly because it may be the only
recourse.

"What psychological challenges should we anticipate in those who
volunteer in good faith and with great courage, yet find themselves
confronting misgivings or loneliness or feelings of rage or beset with
mental illness?" asked Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist and member of the
Fox News Medical A-Team.

A NASA spacecraft has been beaming to Earth incredibly detailed pictures
of the surface of Mars. And the beautiful colors and rich textures of
the red planet will shock you.

There's one other bizarre aspect to the plan: Humans would have to be
adapted to the alien world, Worden said, instead of figuring out a way
to make the planet more hospitable to them.

The human space program is now really aimed at settling other worlds,
Worden said during his talk. Twenty years ago you whispered that in
dark bars and got fired. (Worden actually was fired, he confessed
during the talk, under the Bush administration.)

Since that revelation, hundreds of news reports about the program have
theorized that the substantial budget indicates the Hundred Year
Starship is a dramatic shift for the stalled space program, not just a
research project; others suggest it is a serious attempt to find a way
to Mars. And NASA? The space agency seems to be dodging all questions..

FoxNews.com first contacted NASA s Ames Research Center last week and
scheduled a call with Worden for Monday. The call was postponed to
Wednesday. Late Wednesday the space agency postponed again, before
finally canceling the interview, citing Worden s busy schedule.

After a week and a half, DARPA issued a press release announcing the
program -- but conveying no more information than in Worden's initial
speech.

But what is the Hundred Year Starship? Some experts argue that any
program that suggests putting humans into space for their entire life,
or for multiple generations, is doomed from the start, since many people
react negatively to the idea of leaving the planet and never returning.
Others are more supportive, saying it is the only way to settle a space
colony.

New exploration
Speculation about colonization takes many forms, and some of the
freshest ideas sound a bit peculiar. Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Paul
Davies, who wrote in the Journal of Cosmology recently, suggest sending
four astronauts on a one-way mission who establish their presence and
do not come back. The suggestion is to send supplies to them
occasionally, but the risks are similar to what Columbus undertook to
explore the new world. (That analogy is a bit suspect, however: Columbus
was most famous for actually returning.)

Les Johnson, a well-respected science author, spoke to FoxNews.com and
agreed with the plan: a one-way, hundred-year mission may be the only
way to get to Mars or other planets.

The main issue has to do with a basic physics conundrum. In order to
travel the great distance to Mars (about 35 million miles), a starship
would need a tremendous amount of fuel. Yet fuel adds more weight -- in
fact, every pound you add to a ship requires 4 pounds of fuel. The more
fuel you add, the more you need simply to move the ship's bulk, making
it impossible to go one-way to Mars, much less roundtrip.

Johnson said *the only solution is a longer mission using some form of
propulsion that has not even been invented yet, or is still untested.
One is a massive solar sail, which captures energy from the sun. Another
is a fusion reactor that generates power without any on-board fuel.

Dr. Chris DePree, who heads the Bradley Observatory, also helped fill in
some gaps on a 100-year mission to another planet. It seems like the
only realistic way forward, if we really want to colonize the solar
system, is to have one-way trips, DePree told FoxNews.com. It might be
that technology improves, and the grandchildren of those first Martian
colonists return to Earth.

He also explained what adapting humans means: The suggestion sounds
absurd, but science may actually have more luck developing new breathing
apparatuses or using chemical injections to make humans able to live on
a foreign world than developing technology for "terraforming" a planet.

My dearest Saul,

I would go. And I would stipulate that I be given a
personal computer with a UseNet reader, so I could
continue to have these conversations. They're not
real time anyway, so a few minutes delay due to the
distance shouldn't matter.

Are you really sure about Pete? Nobody gets that
high without breaking a few dishes.

"Saul Levy" wrote in message...
news

Let's send the IDIOT PROFOUND EARTH SCIENCE OSSIFERS, HVAC!

They are MORE THEN READY TO LEAVE THE EARTH FOR GOOD!

And BEERTbrainIDIOT'S PULSE FUSION NONSENSE COULD POWER THE SHIP!

It FITS! And we won't have to listen to them ever again!

BAWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Pete's been with DARPA long enough NOT to make any mistakes.

Saul Levy

On Fri, 29 Oct 2010 14:41:45 -0700, HVAC wrote:

A NASA official may have made a 35-million-mile slip of the tongue.

The director of NASA's Ames Research Center in California casually let
slip mention of the 100-Year Starship recently, a new program funded by

Happy days *and*...
Starry, starry nights !

--
Indelibly yours,
Paine Ellsworth

PS - "To live life at risk you've got to jump off cliffs all
the time and build your wings on the way down."
Ray Bradbury

PPS - http://astro.painellsworth.net !
http://www.secretsgolden.com !
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Paine_Ellsworth !

On Oct 30, 4:41*am, bert wrote:
On Oct 29, 11:35*pm, Warhol wrote:



On Oct 30, 5:07*am, Brad Guth wrote:

On Oct 29, 2:41*pm, HVAC wrote:

A NASA official may have made a 35-million-mile slip of the tongue.

The director of NASA's Ames Research Center in California casually let
slip mention of the 100-Year Starship recently, a new program funded by
the super-secret government agency, DARPA. In a talk at San Francisco's
Long Conversation conference, Simon Pete Worden said DARPA has $1M to
spend, plus another $100,000 from NASA itself, for the program, which
will initially develop a new kind of propulsion engine that will take us
to Mars or beyond.

There's only one problem: The astronauts won't come back.

The 100-year ship would leave Earth with the intention of colonizing a
planet, but it would likely be a one-way trip because of the time it
takes to travel 35 million miles. That s a daunting prospect, partly
because of the ethical dilemma, and partly because it may be the only
recourse.

"What psychological challenges should we anticipate in those who
volunteer in good faith and with great courage, yet find themselves
confronting misgivings or loneliness or feelings of rage or beset with
mental illness?" asked Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist and member of the
Fox News Medical A-Team.

A NASA spacecraft has been beaming to Earth incredibly detailed pictures
of the surface of Mars. And the beautiful colors and rich textures of
the red planet will shock you.

There's one other bizarre aspect to the plan: Humans would have to be
adapted to the alien world, Worden said, instead of figuring out a way
to make the planet more hospitable to them.

The human space program is now really aimed at settling other worlds,
Worden said during his talk. Twenty years ago you whispered that in
dark bars and got fired. (Worden actually was fired, he confessed
during the talk, under the Bush administration.)

Since that revelation, hundreds of news reports about the program have
theorized that the substantial budget indicates the Hundred Year
Starship is a dramatic shift for the stalled space program, not just a
research project; others suggest it is a serious attempt to find a way
to Mars. And NASA? The space agency seems to be dodging all questions.

FoxNews.com first contacted NASA s Ames Research Center last week and
scheduled a call with Worden for Monday. The call was postponed to
Wednesday. Late Wednesday the space agency postponed again, before
finally canceling the interview, citing Worden s busy schedule.

After a week and a half, DARPA issued a press release announcing the
program -- but conveying no more information than in Worden's initial
speech.

But what is the Hundred Year Starship? Some experts argue that any
program that suggests putting humans into space for their entire life,
or for multiple generations, is doomed from the start, since many people
react negatively to the idea of leaving the planet and never returning.
Others are more supportive, saying it is the only way to settle a space
colony.

New exploration
Speculation about colonization takes many forms, and some of the
freshest ideas sound a bit peculiar. Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Paul
Davies, who wrote in the Journal of Cosmology recently, suggest sending
four astronauts on a one-way mission who establish their presence and
do not come back. The suggestion is to send supplies to them
occasionally, but the risks are similar to what Columbus undertook to
explore the new world. (That analogy is a bit suspect, however: Columbus
was most famous for actually returning.)

Les Johnson, a well-respected science author, spoke to FoxNews.com and
agreed with the plan: a one-way, hundred-year mission may be the only
way to get to Mars or other planets.

The main issue has to do with a basic physics conundrum. In order to
travel the great distance to Mars (about 35 million miles), a starship
would need a tremendous amount of fuel. Yet fuel adds more weight -- in
fact, every pound you add to a ship requires 4 pounds of fuel. The more
fuel you add, the more you need simply to move the ship's bulk, making
it impossible to go one-way to Mars, much less roundtrip.

Johnson said *the only solution is a longer mission using some form of
propulsion that has not even been invented yet, or is still untested.
One is a massive solar sail, which captures energy from the sun. Another
is a fusion reactor that generates power without any on-board fuel.

Dr. Chris DePree, who heads the Bradley Observatory, also helped fill in
some gaps on a 100-year mission to another planet. It seems like the
only realistic way forward, if we really want to colonize the solar
system, is to have one-way trips, DePree told FoxNews.com. It might be
that technology improves, and the grandchildren of those first Martian
colonists return to Earth.

He also explained what adapting humans means: The suggestion sounds
absurd, but science may actually have more luck developing new breathing
apparatuses or using chemical injections to make humans able to live on
a foreign world than developing technology for "terraforming" a planet.

As to the question of a one-way mission, DePree says the idea is not as
hush-hush as you might expect. NASA doesn't intend for a suicide
mission, he said, but rather is debating the idea that an astronaut may
live out his or her natural life on another planet and never return to
Earth. Johnson said there are astronauts who have already volunteered
for one-way missions before, and it's not a ludicrous proposition.

Swirling controversy
Even with these explanations, there is still wild speculation about the
program. Worden mentioned the idea of working with third-parties to help
fund future missions. He said Larry Page, the Google founder, asked how
much it would cost to fund the mission (the answer: about $10 billion).
This begs the question: is NASA ready to leverage its work by enlisting
private enterprises?

Some scientists have wondered how the 100-Year Starship would deal with
the effects of long-term space travel. Johnson said that even after
spending a few months in space, the wear and tear starts to show --
astronauts who have visited the Space Station often cannot walk for a
few days. Johnson said muscle mass starts to decline and bone density
decreases after prolonged periods in outer space.

Short of an official news release, one that spells out exactly how the
starship program will proceed, many assume that the program is just in
an early stage. Johnson said the funding level of just $1.1M sounds like
it is simply for research.

Worden may have slipped by revealing the program, but -- as evidenced by
NASA s lack of cooperation -- it may be too early for any new revelations.

$1.1M isn't a year's worth of office TP and postage. *Serious R&D on
any such "starship" (even a one-way mission) is worth at least $1.1B/
year.

A think tank of just a few (half dozen) serious wizards and their
supercomputer simulator (including 3D animations) is gong to run at
least $1.1M/year.

Not including their office space, supercomputers or the staff to
create and run those 3D animations, perhaps $1.1M could cover a dozen..

*~ BG

And fools are still believing it. When will they learn?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Deep space travel needs robots and not humans. Man is not the best
animal for long time trips. Best to keep in mind 73% of c is
humankinds speed limit * TreBert

Especially rad-hard robots for velocity above 0.5 c, unless humans
were surrounded by 100 meters of water or ice.

~ BG

ASAP !

"Saul Levy" wrote in message...
...

None that I know of, Paine!

When are you leaving then?

Saul Levy

On Mon, 1 Nov 2010 00:16:06 -0400, "Painius"
wrote:

My dearest Saul,

I would go. And I would stipulate that I be given a
personal computer with a UseNet reader, so I could
continue to have these conversations. They're not
real time anyway, so a few minutes delay due to the
distance shouldn't matter.

Are you really sure about Pete? Nobody gets that
high without breaking a few dishes.

"Saul Levy" wrote in message...
news

Let's send the IDIOT PROFOUND EARTH SCIENCE OSSIFERS, HVAC!

They are MORE THEN READY TO LEAVE THE EARTH FOR GOOD!

And BEERTbrainIDIOT'S PULSE FUSION NONSENSE COULD POWER THE SHIP!

It FITS! And we won't have to listen to them ever again!

BAWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Pete's been with DARPA long enough NOT to make any mistakes.

Saul Levy

Happy days *and*...
Starry, starry nights !

--
Indelibly yours,
Paine Ellsworth

PS - "To live life at risk you've got to jump off cliffs all
the time and build your wings on the way down."
Ray Bradbury

PPS - http://astro.painellsworth.net !
http://www.secretsgolden.com !
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Paine_Ellsworth !

On Oct 29, 8:35*pm, Warhol wrote:
On Oct 30, 5:07*am, Brad Guth wrote:



On Oct 29, 2:41*pm, HVAC wrote:

A NASA official may have made a 35-million-mile slip of the tongue.

The director of NASA's Ames Research Center in California casually let
slip mention of the 100-Year Starship recently, a new program funded by
the super-secret government agency, DARPA. In a talk at San Francisco's
Long Conversation conference, Simon Pete Worden said DARPA has $1M to
spend, plus another $100,000 from NASA itself, for the program, which
will initially develop a new kind of propulsion engine that will take us
to Mars or beyond.

There's only one problem: The astronauts won't come back.

The 100-year ship would leave Earth with the intention of colonizing a
planet, but it would likely be a one-way trip because of the time it
takes to travel 35 million miles. That s a daunting prospect, partly
because of the ethical dilemma, and partly because it may be the only
recourse.

"What psychological challenges should we anticipate in those who
volunteer in good faith and with great courage, yet find themselves
confronting misgivings or loneliness or feelings of rage or beset with
mental illness?" asked Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist and member of the
Fox News Medical A-Team.

A NASA spacecraft has been beaming to Earth incredibly detailed pictures
of the surface of Mars. And the beautiful colors and rich textures of
the red planet will shock you.

There's one other bizarre aspect to the plan: Humans would have to be
adapted to the alien world, Worden said, instead of figuring out a way
to make the planet more hospitable to them.

The human space program is now really aimed at settling other worlds,
Worden said during his talk. Twenty years ago you whispered that in
dark bars and got fired. (Worden actually was fired, he confessed
during the talk, under the Bush administration.)

Since that revelation, hundreds of news reports about the program have
theorized that the substantial budget indicates the Hundred Year
Starship is a dramatic shift for the stalled space program, not just a
research project; others suggest it is a serious attempt to find a way
to Mars. And NASA? The space agency seems to be dodging all questions..

FoxNews.com first contacted NASA s Ames Research Center last week and
scheduled a call with Worden for Monday. The call was postponed to
Wednesday. Late Wednesday the space agency postponed again, before
finally canceling the interview, citing Worden s busy schedule.

After a week and a half, DARPA issued a press release announcing the
program -- but conveying no more information than in Worden's initial
speech.

But what is the Hundred Year Starship? Some experts argue that any
program that suggests putting humans into space for their entire life,
or for multiple generations, is doomed from the start, since many people
react negatively to the idea of leaving the planet and never returning.
Others are more supportive, saying it is the only way to settle a space
colony.

New exploration
Speculation about colonization takes many forms, and some of the
freshest ideas sound a bit peculiar. Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Paul
Davies, who wrote in the Journal of Cosmology recently, suggest sending
four astronauts on a one-way mission who establish their presence and
do not come back. The suggestion is to send supplies to them
occasionally, but the risks are similar to what Columbus undertook to
explore the new world. (That analogy is a bit suspect, however: Columbus
was most famous for actually returning.)

Les Johnson, a well-respected science author, spoke to FoxNews.com and
agreed with the plan: a one-way, hundred-year mission may be the only
way to get to Mars or other planets.

The main issue has to do with a basic physics conundrum. In order to
travel the great distance to Mars (about 35 million miles), a starship
would need a tremendous amount of fuel. Yet fuel adds more weight -- in
fact, every pound you add to a ship requires 4 pounds of fuel. The more
fuel you add, the more you need simply to move the ship's bulk, making
it impossible to go one-way to Mars, much less roundtrip.

Johnson said *the only solution is a longer mission using some form of
propulsion that has not even been invented yet, or is still untested.
One is a massive solar sail, which captures energy from the sun. Another
is a fusion reactor that generates power without any on-board fuel.

Dr. Chris DePree, who heads the Bradley Observatory, also helped fill in
some gaps on a 100-year mission to another planet. It seems like the
only realistic way forward, if we really want to colonize the solar
system, is to have one-way trips, DePree told FoxNews.com. It might be
that technology improves, and the grandchildren of those first Martian
colonists return to Earth.

He also explained what adapting humans means: The suggestion sounds
absurd, but science may actually have more luck developing new breathing
apparatuses or using chemical injections to make humans able to live on
a foreign world than developing technology for "terraforming" a planet.

On Nov 1, 7:56*am, Brad Guth wrote:
On Oct 29, 8:35*pm, Warhol wrote:





On Oct 30, 5:07*am, Brad Guth wrote:

On Oct 29, 2:41*pm, HVAC wrote:

A NASA official may have made a 35-million-mile slip of the tongue.

The director of NASA's Ames Research Center in California casually let
slip mention of the 100-Year Starship recently, a new program funded by
the super-secret government agency, DARPA. In a talk at San Francisco's
Long Conversation conference, Simon Pete Worden said DARPA has $1M to
spend, plus another $100,000 from NASA itself, for the program, which
will initially develop a new kind of propulsion engine that will take us
to Mars or beyond.

There's only one problem: The astronauts won't come back.

The 100-year ship would leave Earth with the intention of colonizing a
planet, but it would likely be a one-way trip because of the time it
takes to travel 35 million miles. That s a daunting prospect, partly
because of the ethical dilemma, and partly because it may be the only
recourse.

"What psychological challenges should we anticipate in those who
volunteer in good faith and with great courage, yet find themselves
confronting misgivings or loneliness or feelings of rage or beset with
mental illness?" asked Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist and member of the
Fox News Medical A-Team.

A NASA spacecraft has been beaming to Earth incredibly detailed pictures
of the surface of Mars. And the beautiful colors and rich textures of
the red planet will shock you.

There's one other bizarre aspect to the plan: Humans would have to be
adapted to the alien world, Worden said, instead of figuring out a way
to make the planet more hospitable to them.

The human space program is now really aimed at settling other worlds,
Worden said during his talk. Twenty years ago you whispered that in
dark bars and got fired. (Worden actually was fired, he confessed
during the talk, under the Bush administration.)

Since that revelation, hundreds of news reports about the program have
theorized that the substantial budget indicates the Hundred Year
Starship is a dramatic shift for the stalled space program, not just a
research project; others suggest it is a serious attempt to find a way
to Mars. And NASA? The space agency seems to be dodging all questions.

FoxNews.com first contacted NASA s Ames Research Center last week and
scheduled a call with Worden for Monday. The call was postponed to
Wednesday. Late Wednesday the space agency postponed again, before
finally canceling the interview, citing Worden s busy schedule.

After a week and a half, DARPA issued a press release announcing the
program -- but conveying no more information than in Worden's initial
speech.

But what is the Hundred Year Starship? Some experts argue that any
program that suggests putting humans into space for their entire life,
or for multiple generations, is doomed from the start, since many people
react negatively to the idea of leaving the planet and never returning.
Others are more supportive, saying it is the only way to settle a space
colony.

New exploration
Speculation about colonization takes many forms, and some of the
freshest ideas sound a bit peculiar. Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Paul
Davies, who wrote in the Journal of Cosmology recently, suggest sending
four astronauts on a one-way mission who establish their presence and
do not come back. The suggestion is to send supplies to them
occasionally, but the risks are similar to what Columbus undertook to
explore the new world. (That analogy is a bit suspect, however: Columbus
was most famous for actually returning.)

Les Johnson, a well-respected science author, spoke to FoxNews.com and
agreed with the plan: a one-way, hundred-year mission may be the only
way to get to Mars or other planets.

The main issue has to do with a basic physics conundrum. In order to
travel the great distance to Mars (about 35 million miles), a starship
would need a tremendous amount of fuel. Yet fuel adds more weight -- in
fact, every pound you add to a ship requires 4 pounds of fuel. The more
fuel you add, the more you need simply to move the ship's bulk, making
it impossible to go one-way to Mars, much less roundtrip.

Johnson said *the only solution is a longer mission using some form of
propulsion that has not even been invented yet, or is still untested.
One is a massive solar sail, which captures energy from the sun. Another
is a fusion reactor that generates power without any on-board fuel.

Dr. Chris DePree, who heads the Bradley Observatory, also helped fill in
some gaps on a 100-year mission to another planet. It seems like the
only realistic way forward, if we really want to colonize the solar
system, is to have one-way trips, DePree told FoxNews.com. It might be
that technology improves, and the grandchildren of those first Martian
colonists return to Earth.

He also explained what adapting humans means: The suggestion sounds
absurd, but science may actually have more luck developing new breathing
apparatuses or using chemical injections to make humans able to live on
a foreign world than developing technology for "terraforming" a planet.

As to the question of a one-way mission, DePree says the idea is not as
hush-hush as you might expect. NASA doesn't intend for a suicide
mission, he said, but rather is debating the idea that an astronaut may
live out his or her natural life on another planet and never return to
Earth. Johnson said there are astronauts who have already volunteered
for one-way missions before, and it's not a ludicrous proposition.

Swirling controversy
Even with these explanations, there is still wild speculation about the
program. Worden mentioned the idea of working with third-parties to help
fund future missions. He said Larry Page, the Google founder, asked how
much it would cost to fund the mission (the answer: about $10 billion).
This begs the question: is NASA ready to leverage its work by enlisting
private enterprises?

Some scientists have wondered how the 100-Year Starship would deal with
the effects of long-term space travel. Johnson said that even after
spending a few months in space, the wear and tear starts to show --
astronauts who have visited the Space Station often cannot walk for a
few days. Johnson said muscle mass starts to decline and bone density
decreases after prolonged periods in outer space.

Short of an official news release, one that spells out exactly how the
starship program will proceed, many assume that the program is just in
an early stage. Johnson said the funding level of just $1.1M sounds like
it is simply for research.

Worden may have slipped by revealing the program, but -- as evidenced by
NASA s lack of cooperation -- it may be too early for any new revelations.

$1.1M isn't a year's worth of office TP and postage. *Serious R&D on
any such "starship" (even a one-way mission) is worth at least $1.1B/
year.

A think tank of just a few (half dozen) serious wizards and their
supercomputer simulator (including 3D animations) is gong to run at
least $1.1M/year.

Not including their office space, supercomputers or the staff to
create and run those 3D animations, perhaps $1.1M could cover a dozen..

*~ BG

And fools are still believing it. When will they learn?

The system works for those that go along for the ride. *All others get
to pay and only get squashed if they should get in the way.

Putting William Mook in charge of their 100 year starship could get it
underway with a few years, and at near half the cost, but that's never
going to happen unless Mook privately builds one for himself.

*~ BG- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Does he have a prototype? Ha Ha Ha TreBert