Do you think humans will ever leave the solar system? It doesn’t have to be any time soon (it could be anywhere from hundreds to millions of years until then, if we survive that long).
Assuming that humans really are intelligent enough not to blow ourselves up with things like nuclear weapons, do you think that if we could leave we would leave by necessity? Or simply financial and technological prosperity?
If so, what necessity? Will our planet’s ability to support life go away earlier than we expect and force us to look for new, distant homes?
Obviously if a trip like this was made, the destination would be millions or billions of light years away, and even with ridiculously ample amounts of resources it would take around an entire human lifespan to endure (at least one generation would have to live their entire lives in space). But what if some ominous future discovery rules out staying on Earth and we have no choice?
Do you think we won’t have enough resources or energy that we can harness to make it practical?
What do you think?
I’m aware of the fact that intelligence is not necessarily a positive factor in increasing humans’ survival rate, but to say that absolutely no life or species in the universe is intelligent enough to refrain from destroying itself seems somewhat closed minded.
More Pages:
- Solar Guru: Sikhism And Science Relation Question? (8/22/2011)
- Solar Products: Nanotechnology Future Or Just Hope? (10/18/2011)
- Solar Products: How Would You Feel Knowing That God Can Possibly Be An Alien? (4/1/2012)
- Global warming essay…HELP??!!?
- Solar Power: Why Is Solar Power Better For Humans? (9/19/2011)
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
you need a way to power any craft that can leave the solar system rapidly enough to get anywhere interesting within a few years. we are at least 60 to 100 years from that technology. even a nuc/ion power plant will not be speedy enough to do that. you,d need the ability to get to 20% of the speed of light. this is fusion or antimatter controlling power plants. if we can easily leave the vicinity of the earth, we can go anywhere within the solar system. can,t do that with chemical engines.
“…Will our planet’s ability to support life go away earlier than we expect and force us to look for new, distant homes?…”
I think what you’ve said above is exactly the main reason we’re going to be forced to leave the solar system.
I don’t believe that we’re facing trips of “millions or billions” of light years though. Those distances would put us outside our galaxy, and there must be uncountable other worlds much closer that we could migrate to.
It’s possible that we will eventually develop a technology that would allow us to make voyages light years in length in significantly less time than such trips would take with conventional propulsion systems. The Alcubierre drive is one possibility (..http://news.discovery.com/space/warp-drive-spaceship-engine.html..)