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View Full Version : Can we ever get near light speed travel?

David B
September 3, 2005, 07:03 PM
My guess is not, or not for anything other than computers, anyway, because as far as I can see the Cosmic Background Radiation would be blue shifted into the gamma range, and there would be enormous problems shielding organic life, and getting such a mass up to near light speed.

David B (wonders if anyone can see a way round this)
Loren Pechtel
September 3, 2005, 07:22 PM
My guess is not, or not for anything other than computers, anyway, because as far as I can see the Cosmic Background Radiation would be blue shifted into the gamma range, and there would be enormous problems shielding organic life, and getting such a mass up to near light speed.

David B (wonders if anyone can see a way round this)

Put enough mass between you and the radiation and you have no problem. Fuel tanks would suffice.

Note that you would have to be *VERY* close to c indeed to blueshift the background into gamma. It's the gas around that's the problem.
David B
September 3, 2005, 07:37 PM
Put enough mass between you and the radiation and you have no problem. Fuel tanks would suffice.

Note that you would have to be *VERY* close to c indeed to blueshift the background into gamma. It's the gas around that's the problem.

Is it just mass? or does what the mass is made of make a difference? Some things are transparent to light, some to xrays, some to infra red, etc? What about gamma? I know lead is pretty good at shielding gamma, but I don't know that rocket fuel is - or any other hypothetical fuel. Are you just guessing, or are you right? I'm genuinely curious.

And yes, you'd have to be very close to c. But X rays might be a problem as well.

David B
I. C. Unicorns
September 3, 2005, 07:44 PM
we may be moving near the speed of c right now, relative to some other unknown object.
David B
September 3, 2005, 08:11 PM
we may be moving near the speed of c right now, relative to some other unknown object.

But not relative to the Cosmic Background radiation

David B
ZikZak
September 4, 2005, 01:50 PM
Collisions with interstellar medium particles become a serious engineering issue long before the CBR is blueshifted into the gamma.
OneWayTraffic
September 4, 2005, 11:03 PM
That's what navigational shields are for. I don't see a problem myslef though why not just use warp?