Is Interstellar Space Travel Feasible - Term Paper Example

Is Interstellar Space Travel Feasible? With the world developing newer technologies are evolving every day. These technologies are being introducedin the society so that the society can progress and develop. Things which were difficult previously have been made easier by these technologies. An example here can be considered of the microwave oven. Previously food could not be warmed as easily as it can be now because of the introduction of the microwave oven. Similarly technologies are also being developed to further explore this universe which is full of stars and planets. To serve this purpose Interstellar space travel has been developed with the help of which the scientists are able to explore the world beyond the realm of the planet Earth. However several questions are now being raised regarding the feasibility of interstellar space travel. In my view interstellar space travel is not a feasible option but on the other hand it is the only option through which the scientists can explore the world. Thus with further development of interstellar space travel the scientists will be able to achieve a feasible way to explore this world. This paper would explain all the aspects of the interstellar space travel and it would come to a conclusion as to if interstellar space is feasible or not. Interstellar space travel can be said to be the use of resources and transports to travel between stars. It can be seen that with the help of several way of transports involved in interstellar space travel one can be able to travel outside the earth and explore the universe. One important way of travelling to the space is by the use of rockets which has proved to be successful in the modern world. It is seen that scientists have been able to discover a lot about the planets and that is not with the help of interstellar space travel but interplanetary travel. In my view interstellar space travel is feasible only with a few changes otherwise it might put risk to several individuals involved in the process of interstellar space travel. It can be seen that travelling through stars is a much more complicated task than to travel from planet to planet. The main problem of travelling between planet to planet and planet to star is the comparative amount of distance between these two. The distances of the space are measured in a way through which the speed of a light is first measured. The speed of the light is measured as per the criteria of time so that one can know how much a beam of light can travel for a given set of time. Vacuum can be said to be a space which is devoid of matter and does not have gravitational pull. This vacuum is established outside the realms of Earth. And hence the speed of light is measured in a vacuum which is 3X108 meters per second(c). And through this method the distance between moon and earth is measured which equals to around one and quarter light seconds. Using the light seconds here it can be estimated that a trip from earth to moon would approximately take three days if travelled by a space craft of propulsion techniques. Now it can be seen that the distance from a planet to planet is not significant enough as the distance is between a planet and a star. The distance can vary from three light minutes to five and a half lights hours. And with the increasing light minutes or hours one can see that the distance which needs to be travelled increases more and more. And because of the increasing distance one can see that the time taken by the space craft would be increased too. Alpha Centauri is a star which is the nearest to the planet Earth. The light radiations given off by Alpha Centauri nearly take four years to reach earth. And this shows that quite a significant time would be taken by the space crafts of the Earth to reach the star. The fastest spacecraft designed till now achieves the speed of 30 km per second and at this rate approximately 40,000 years would be needed to reach the nearest star. In the history of the world it is seen that nearly all the space missions come to an end after 40 years after which the repair of the device is needed. And if the repair is not done the device is likely to get damaged because of which space travel cannot be achieved with these speeds. The speeds of the space crafts which go outside depend upon their usage of fuel and the method of thrust with which they are provided. Previously liquid hydrogen was being used as an efficient fuel system for these space crafts but nowadays energy derived from nuclear reactions is also being tried. This kind of energy can prove to be very useful for the interstellar space travel. Here it can be noted that the current forms of energy are not efficient enough to cause fast interstellar space travels. To reach the nearest star it is necessary for the space crafts to achieve a speed faster than the light and this does not seem possible in the near future because human beings have not yet developed such techniques which would help them to travel at the speed of light. However even the speed of light would take quite a time for the human beings to reach to the stars and a way to have a speed faster than light is becoming a necessity for space travel. It is seen that the theory of relativity denies that such a way as it states that ‘any attempt to overtake a beam of light will fail’. It also states that if one can travel faster than light than one can change the past. And this factor in the ‘special relativity theory’ is known as the ‘causality loop’. Currently there has been no such progress in sciences that can cause the causality loop to be false and cause an object to move faster than the speed of light. All these factors together make the interstellar space travel a difficult job to achieve. Thus it can also be said that interstellar space travel is not feasible. However on the other hand many opponents of this claim state that interstellar space travel is a feasible travel if viewed with an unmanned perspective. According to them interstellar space travel can be achieved if the space craft is made up with such a design that it can cope to over a decade and survive till it reaches the nearest star. They also come up with the new techniques which have been proposed because of which interstellar space travel can be made a feasible way of transport. They argue that if faster than light space crafts are invented the interstellar space travel would become more feasible. And without the use of faster than light travels the space crafts would also be able to complete the interstellar space travel if they are according to the criteria of the multi generation ships. The opponents put forward the claim that nuclear pulse propulsion is one important way with which the light travel can be increased significantly. In such a space craft the basic fuel would be derived from nuclear explosives. With the help of such a method the interstellar space travel can be a made a lot easier and feasible. Similarly scientists also put forward a design of a space craft which directly uses the hydrogen in the airspace and uses it as a component of the fuel. Such a space craft was developed and it was named Bussard ramjet. But later on it proved unsuccessful as the energy provided by hydrogen was not sufficient enough to cause the ramjet to increase its speed. Moreover these scientists also have to say that if energy efficient techniques are introduced interstellar space travel would not be difficult anymore. These energy efficient techniques would help the spacecrafts to travel at a faster rate with a low consumption of fuel. And with a faster speed of the space crafts one can reach the nearest star Alpha Centauri. According to these scientists more emphasis should be given on unmanned space crafts which should be made effective enough. Also another method which has an even faster speed than that of light should be invented. The scientists who provide with different methods for increasing the feasibility of interstellar space travel have proved to be successful as most of the methods proposed by them have a flaw. In nuclear propulsion methods it can be seen that nuclear radiations or explosives are being used as an effective energy reservoir but here again the radiations and explosives can cause a real threat to the survival of human beings on the earth. As proved by the relativity theory it can also be noted that an object can never have a faster speed than that of the light. And yet again it can also be seen that if the space crafts are improved to a great level, even then these space crafts cannot be manned. This is because it has been calculated that even after increasing the efficiency of these space crafts it is seen that the space craft can only reach the stars in a minimum time of 40 years and forty years is almost half the period a human being can live in the world. Other than the problem of effectiveness of the space travels another thing which is of immense importance can be noted here. It can be seen that the space crafts which are being developed in this world nowadays require a huge amount of resources to be allocated to it. The United States of America has a special budget designed to invest on space travel purposes. But here it can be seen that the population of the world is increasing and with the increasing population it should be noted that the resources and money rather than being invested on such purposes would be invested on the individuals living in the world. In designing a space craft with uphill properties it would require trillions for a country to invest. And a single country cannot be responsible for such a huge task as it has to maintain its economy and budget also. Interstellar space travel requires things which are beyond the realm of the society nowadays. A speed faster than light is impossible to achieve and a space craft of fuel efficient would require trillions of money to be invested. It can also be seen that with increasing experiments regarding interstellar space travel the global problems of the world are increasing as increased amounts of gases are being released in the environment. These gases further lead to problems like global warming and ice ages. Thus it can be said that interstellar space travel is not feasible in the world today. However with the development of technologies and proper resource allocation interstellar space travel can be made possible. Fuel effective system and faster than speed travel are two major factors which can increase the feasibility of such a travel. Moreover other new efficient space crafts can also be developed because of which this interstellar space travel would become feasible. If all the governments of the world come together for a common cause and the amount of money being invested is significant enough the interstellar space travel can become feasible. Lastly it can be said that with all the developments in the modern world interstellar space travel can have an alternative in the near future and this might provide a better way of travel to the stars. Bibliography Top of Form Gilster, Paul. Centauri Dreams: Imagining and Planning Interstellar Exploration. New York: Copernicus Books, 2004. Top of Form Kondo, Yoji. Interstellar Travel and Multi-Generation Space Ships. Burlington, Ont: Apogee Books, 2003. Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Joint conference and exhibit; 44th. Propulsion; AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE. 2008. Bottom of Form Top of Form Rosignoli, D. "Interstellar Drives: Proposals for Interplanetary Travel Abound. Their Common Shortcoming Is They Rely on the Invention of Major New Technologies, Like Warp Drives and Teleportation." ELECTRIC SPACE CRAFT. 44 (2008): 8-12. Bottom of Form Top of Form Meeting; 211th. American Astronomical Society; The 211th Meeting. 2007. Bottom of Form Read More