Due to my exceedingly hectic schedule for the next couple of days, I unfortunately am unable to meet with a physics professor to discuss time and energy regarding interstellar travel. As this is the next phase in my research, it leaves me fairly stranded until next Monday. Rather than waiting, I began a google search to at least attempt to find an answer on my own. Once again Wikipedia saved the day, being the first to pop up with the tag interstellar travel. I immediately skimmed down to the "Required Energy" section, and my story was dealt a serious blow. Wikipedia wagered that "accelerating one ton to one-tenth of the speed of light requires at least 450 PJ or 4.5 ×1017 J or 125 billion kWh, without factoring in efficiency of the propulsion mechanism." One ton is only a small fraction of the mass an inter-planetary spaceship would require, in my opinion at least. I propose that an adequate spaceship have the mass of a skyscraper, or about 330,000 tons. Therefore, my poor math skills calculated that the energy required to accelerate a spaceship with a mass of 330,000 tons to one tenth the speed of light would be:
(3.3 x 105)(4.5 x 1017) = 14.85 x 1022 Joules
"Now, what do these numbers mean?" I asked myself. To figure this out, I did another search for the energy outputs on nuclear weapons. Again, wikipedia saves the day! Orders of magnetude contained exactly what I needed, allowing me perspective on the hurdle facing my story. My conclusion was that a ship would need somewhere between the "estimated total energy released by the magnitude 9.1–9.3 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake" and the "approximate energy released in the formation of the Chicxulub Crater in the Yucatán Peninsula" or, in other words, enough energy to make the dinosaurs extinct or at least create a very destructive tsunami.
At last some great headway, yet at the same time I now must backtrack. The calculations on my previous post had only calculated travel times associated with one fourth the speed of light, not one tenth! Recalculations were in order so- damn, time was up! No notes were needed to remember that for my next session I would need to enter in 108,000,000 km/hr into my equation: Time = Distance/Speed for each planet on my list.
Even without actually carrying out the calculations, I can infer that travel within our solar system is indeed possible, so long as we can find a way to generate such an amount of energy. Like I keep saying, however, I am no physicist and cannot readily provide a solution, theory, or hypothesis, but I can entertain uneducated guesses and fantasies. And it still would not hurt to discuss them with a professional. So, until next time, "So long space cowboy!" - Cowboy Bebop (1997).
Cowboy Bebop. Great show :)
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