Interstellar Propulsion idea using an Asteroid and a fewcomets!

Abdul, though they were designed for interstellar use, I don't see the
nuclear starships Orion, Daedalus and Bussard fusion craft as practical
for that. I do think they would be great for interplanetary travel,
building them in orbit and useing them for going to mars in a couple of
weeks instead of years for colonizing it. I think chemical propulsion
should just be used for shuttling parts into orbit. I think our best bet
for interstellar space travel is to develop a warp drive, that is,
making something that makes a well in space-time into which the ship
falls, or, a ripple in space-time upon which the ship rides. They have
actually worked it all out on paper. The problem, as it always is, is
generating enouph energy to do it. The general concencus seems to be
that we have a billion years to do it, before the sun heats up too much.
When I think that my grandpa rode a horse to get where he is going and
saw us go to the moon, I think that technological advancement is
exponential. The rapid development in computers since the sixties seems
to verify that. So we may have warp drive in under a hundred years. The
more immediate problem, I think. is learning to live in harmony with
nature because without it we are doomed. Nature, like the carbon
dioxide/oxygen cycle, is regenerative if we don't mess it up, as we seem
to be doing with global warming. That is why I think the development of
fuel cells, or hydrogen powered automobiles are important. Burning
fossil fuels causes global warming, and that in turn could trigger a
runaway greenhouse effect or ice age. I just went off on a tangent here
because it seems like we are talking about solving the world problems.--
Ian

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The worlds first astronaut was a Chinese emperor several thousand of
years back who tied a bunch of rockets made of gun powder to a chair,
strapped himself to it and lit them all. Legend has it that after the
smoke cleared, there was no sign of him or his rocket. I believe that!!!
He wanted to go to the stars, his heart was in the right place, but let
us look at the problems with his design. There were no fins to stabilize
the trajectory. Once in space there is no oxygen to allow the fuel to
burn. The stars were clearly much further away than the emperor made
plans for. He weighed too much to achieve escape velocity, and even if
he made it into space, he didn't realize that there would have been no
way to breathe. I admire him for dreaming. We have learned a lot since
then, and we now know what we are up against. Recently the first Chinese
astronaut to successfully go into orbit returned safely. What is man's
next step towards making him depend no more on the Earth alone for his
survival?
--Ian

http://mysite.verizon.net/res8ydyw/

Interstellar Propulsion idea using an Asteroid and a few comets!

Group: sci.astro.amateur Date: Sat, Sep 4, 2004, 4:09am From:
(Ian=A0Beardsley)
The worlds first astronaut was a Chinese emperor several thousand of
years back who tied a bunch of rockets made of gun powder to a chair,
strapped himself to it and lit them all. Legend has it that after the
smoke cleared, there was no sign of him or his rocket. I believe that!!!
He wanted to go to the stars, his heart was in the right place, but let
us look at the problems with his design. There were no fins to stabilize
the trajectory. Once in space there is no oxygen to allow the fuel to
burn. The stars were clearly much further away than the emperor made
plans for. He weighed too much to achieve escape velocity, and even if
he made it into space, he didn't realize that there would have been no
way to breathe. I admire him for dreaming. We have learned a lot since
then, and we now know what we are up against. Recently the first Chinese
astronaut to successfully go into orbit returned safely. What is man's
next step towards making him depend no more on the Earth alone for his
survival?
--------------------------------------------------------
I got the time and title wrong on that. It was in about 1500 and he was
not an emperor but a local government official and his name was Wanhu.
--Ian
http://mysite.verizon.net/res8ydyw/

http://mysite.verizon.net/res8ydyw/

Read Arthur C. Clarkes, 2061 Odyssey Three. In it the crew aboard a ship
has to change course for a rescue mission, except they don't have enouph
fuel. So they land on a comet and fill the tanks with water from it.
They use the water as a propellant I believe, mass for reaction in
Newton's action/reaction, if I remember correctly. The difference is
this is an interplanetary ship, not interstellar, there is no mention of
the Oort cloud. It seems to me you have worked the logistics in greater
detail. See chapter 15 titled Car Wash. The first day they tapped into a
Geyser on the comet called Old Faithful, and took in more than a
thousand tons of water. It was none other than Halley's Comet.
--Ian


http://community.webtv.net/ianbeardsley/Logica
http://mysite.verizon.net/res8ydyw/

Interstellar Propulsion idea using an Asteroid and a few comets!

Group: sci.astro.amateur Date: Tue, Sep 7, 2004, 1:30pm From:
(Ian=A0Beardsley)
Read Arthur C. Clarkes, 2061 Odyssey Three. In it the crew aboard a
ship has to change course for a rescue mission, except they don't have
enouph fuel. So they land on a comet and fill the tanks with water from
it. They use the water as a propellant I believe, mass for reaction in
Newton's action/reaction, if I remember correctly. The difference is
this is an interplanetary ship, not interstellar, there is no mention of
the Oort cloud. It seems to me you have worked the logistics in greater
detail. See chapter 15 titled Car Wash. The first day they tapped into a
Geyser on the comet called Old Faithful, and took in more than a
thousand tons of water. It was none other than Halley's Comet. --Ian
Thinking about it, what you are talking about is a whole different ball
game. You are talking about mining comets, or asteroids for fuel, Clarke
speaks of collecting water for propellant (i.e. the water is not
combusted or used in any kind of nuclear reaction, but is just pure mass
hurled out the back end by whatever is powering the ship.) I would look
into this distinction between fuel and propellant, as I am not sure I
understand it very well. In anycase, I am sure you have got an original
idea here. Keep up the good work.--Ian


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http://mysite.verizon.net/res8ydyw/

(Ian Beardsley) wrote in message ...
Interstellar Propulsion idea using an Asteroid and a few comets!

I would look
into this distinction between fuel and propellant, as I am not sure I
understand it very well. In anycase, I am sure you have got an original
idea here. Keep up the good work.--Ian

Thanks for your kind words. I was hoping to turn the whole thing
into... wait for it... a full length, Hollywood blockbuster MOVIE!!! I
have a basic fictional script already thought out and I just need an
agent to sell the idea in to a Hollywood, multi-million dollar Movie
Maker or Director of some kind on my behalf.

At this present juncture with NASA and manned spaceflight, think of
the realism and the IMPACT that a movie - based on *real* star travel,
utilising *life like* technology, travelling to a *real* star like
Alpha Centauri could have on human society at large... it will help to
inspire, educate, shift viewpoints and help encourage public support
towards manned spaceflight goals like the Moon and Mars!

Would anyone here from the States please tell me how to go about doing
this?! All offers welcome!

Abdul