Is Interstellar Travel Impossible?

[Conqueror]

Better way for creating artificial gravity than constant acceleration/deceleration would be the rotating donut-shaped spacecraft. Energy for acceleration/deceleration would only be needed for the beginning and the end of the flight, and for starting/stopping the rotation.

Advances in medicine/biotechnology might also extend the human lifespan greatly, which could enable spaceflights that take decades to complete in one direction.

[TosaInu]

-will to leave earth.
-another planet, though that's irrelevant when the will is strong enough.
-a spaceship to escape earth and support human life.

Time/speed to reach the new planet is not relevant. A new colony of must escape earth, may accept that it takes several generations to get there, they may even take the risk that noone ever gets anywhere.

Practically, we can't built spaceships yet that can support human life for generations (I think), theoretically we can -> interstellar space travel is possible.

[Viking]

Better way for creating artificial gravity than constant acceleration/deceleration would be the rotating donut-shaped spacecraft. Energy for acceleration/deceleration would only be needed for the beginning and the end of the flight, and for starting/stopping the rotation.

Advances in medicine/biotechnology might also extend the human lifespan greatly, which could enable spaceflights that take decades to complete in one direction.

Otherwise the donut thingy accelerates at all times, it will not help.

tis all about the G-forces

-will to leave earth.
-another planet, though that's irrelevant when the will is strong enough.
-a spaceship to escape earth and support human life.

Time/speed to reach the new planet is not relevant. A new colony of must escape earth, may accept that it takes several generations to get there, they may even take the risk that noone ever gets anywhere.

Practically, we can't built spaceships yet that can support human life for generations (I think), theoretically we can -> interstellar space travel is possible.

Yes, I'd also say that interstellar travel is highly possible for future generations. With what methods exactly, only time will show.

[Rodion Romanovich]

Interstellar travel is probably possible... if you're not as short-lived as a human being.

[Ramses II CP]

Since my comments seem to have stirred up a little controversy let me clarify them.

Regarding dualism: It isn't dualism to presume that intelligence can exist outside of the purely human form. I'm not proposing necessarily that we 'copy' someone's mind and transfer it somewhere, that idea is still tied to the old world 'send the astronauts' concepts. What I'm proposing is that after we create sufficiently strong intelligence in non-biological form (Or perhaps I should say non-traditional form, since biology is increasingly a function of technology too) it's a simple matter to send that intelligence, delinked as it will be from our crude earth bound conceptions of time and necessity, anywhere.

After all, what's important isn't looking like a human (See Turing), but being able to interact intelligently with the environment and one another. 'We' can't travel to even the nearest star because, setting aside the profligate energy expenditure, our generations are too short, so you reduce 'us' to minimal parts and end our reliance on generations. After that is accomplished the only question will be whether or not it is still worthwhile to travel so far.

Regarding the need for energy to support my proposition vs the energy needed by a human body, the trouble with our bodies is that they've evolved to be suitable for only the conditions that exist here on our lonely little planet. Either we can try to recreate those conditions, at an immense expediture of energy, for us during travel and at our destination, or we can remove our intelligence from those restrictions and adapt it to the necessary conditions. Human beings will never be well suited to live far from, for example, earth normal gravity without extensive modifications in gross biology, if nothing else, so why undergo all that effort when you can simply step cleanly away from the body entirely?

In the long term it will be possible, as I suggested previously, to send nothing but information across interstellar distances, information which will affect the environment on arrival such that it self organizes into intelligence. Stuff von Neuman 'machines,' we'll be sending von Neuman people (or sentients if you prefer) to do our exploration.

Intelligence evolved (IMHO) because it is best equipped to deal with microscopic events on the time scale, relative to the glacial speed of evolution's adaptations (Imprecise use of that word, I know, but it conveys the essence). The next logical step is to move that intelligence increasingly away from the limitations imposed on us by evolution, which is to say the need for such a narrow range of temperatures, pressures, foods, etc.

One last note to sum up, when Enrico Fermi considered his famous paradox (If our existence isn't a vastly improbable singular event why haven't aliens contacted us?) he neglected to consider two things, first that we've only been worth contacting for a minute quantity of time against the scope of the existence of the universe, and second that we might not be worth contacting yet. On the line between bacteria and X hypothetical alien intellect maybe we're a lot closer to the bacteria than we think, considering just how much of our mental energy is expended on where to get our next bit of food, sex, and water. Fermi's question is truly unanswerable at this time, but my guess seems fairly reasonable to me.

It seems obvious to me that we will inevitably circumvent our own limitations much more easily than we do the impositions of the nature of interstellar travel. Don't try to go so fast the travel time is shorter, just change yourself so that it's less important how long the journey takes. Don't try to invent shielding to protect our fragile, narrowly evolved bodies, change the bodies themselves until they're no longer necessary.

[Lemur]

So the general Orgah opinion seems to agree with something that was written in 1902:

When science has attained a definite state of development, it frequently is not possible to assert in what direction a new advance will take place; even the most penetrating and discerning minds will often view a subject from different standpoints. But as regards general progress in some direction, I am not aware of any philosophic authority who regards the natural sciences as either finished or nearing completion, even in the matter of principles, still less in the matter of applications, and of verifications relative to the infinitely varied phenomena so abundantly diffused throughout nature. Rash as it may appear to some, I, for one, believe that all the physical sciences are still in their infancy, and that a considerable number of the generalizations now provisionally accepted are destined to be cast aside when more light is shed upon the true phenomena of the physical world. Such has been uniformly the result of past experiences, and a similar outcome is strongly indicated by fresh discoveries in many lines. There is indeed nothing in recent progress to indicate that the resources of the human mind have been exhausted.

[Viking]

So the general Orgah opinion seems to agree with something that was written in 1902:

When science has attained a definite state of development, it frequently is not possible to assert in what direction a new advance will take place; even the most penetrating and discerning minds will often view a subject from different standpoints. But as regards general progress in some direction, I am not aware of any philosophic authority who regards the natural sciences as either finished or nearing completion, even in the matter of principles, still less in the matter of applications, and of verifications relative to the infinitely varied phenomena so abundantly diffused throughout nature. Rash as it may appear to some, I, for one, believe that all the physical sciences are still in their infancy, and that a considerable number of the generalizations now provisionally accepted are destined to be cast aside when more light is shed upon the true phenomena of the physical world. Such has been uniformly the result of past experiences, and a similar outcome is strongly indicated by fresh discoveries in many lines. There is indeed nothing in recent progress to indicate that the resources of the human mind have been exhausted.

Every society has considered itself to be the ultimate in every aspect, and each time they have been proven wrong. Today is tomorrows yesterday.

[drone]

We just need to find a way to manipulate the Warp. That will enable interstellar travel without the speed of light physics problems. After that, it's a piece of cake.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Aside from the daemons....

[Rodion Romanovich]

I think interstellar travel may be easier to achieve if we worsen global warming a bit first, after all desperation is the mother of inventions

[Quirinus]

But if you have a self-sustaining ecosystem on the ship then your only problem will be providing enough fuel to keep the engines going that long, not providing food, water, oxygen and anything else that may be needed.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but with the absence of solar energy, even a 'self-sustaining' ecosystem will eventually be exhausted as matter is converted into energy, right? I mean, I know that some of it would be renewable, but some of it won't, so it won't renew itself perpertually..... Meh, I've never been one for physics.

[Viking]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but with the absence of solar energy, even a 'self-sustaining' ecosystem will eventually be exhausted as matter is converted into energy, right? I mean, I know that some of it would be renewable, but some of it won't, so it won't renew itself perpertually..... Meh, I've never been one for physics.

"matter converted in to energy" will not kill the eco system off; I can only think of microscopic leakages which should require quite a bit of time in order to have any effect.

[Vladimir]

If God intended for man to fly He would have given him wings!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Good thing that we can sit in a machine that flies. Stupid Luddite!

[Good Ship Chuckle]

There's something called suspended animation where you are put into a deep sleep and all your body functions halt, almost to the point of death. That way you wouldn't need an sort of an ecosystem.

[Quirinus]

"matter converted in to energy" will not kill the eco system off; I can only think of microscopic leakages which should require quite a bit of time in order to have any effect.

Which is what I'm saying -- it's not strictly perpetual, right? Over a number of generations, even microscopic leaks might amount to something.....

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Which is what I'm saying -- it's not strictly perpetual, right? Over a number of generations, even microscopic leaks might amount to something.....

Eh, the hope is that your trip will be short enough for you to deal with that, or that your ship will be big enough (relative to the population) to deal with that. As with all things there's no way to guarantee you won't end up with a sterile ecosystem, but chances are you'll be fine if you can deal with creating a ship of the size and complexity necessary to begin with.