Message posted by splinderhausen on September 20, 2005 at 9:55:56 PST:

Realistically, such projects from the 50's and 60's including SLAM, do not come close to the mark needed for flights to the next closest star. Consider a realistic timeframe for a flight (presumably unmanned) to the nearest star at 25 to 30 years. That requires traveling at about 1/8 the speed of light or mach 100,000 = 70 million mph. Even halfing that, say 50 to 60 years, 1/16 speed of light, mach 50,000 or 35 million mph. Some incredible technology that we would have difficulty imagining. But then, who could have imagined the entire world connected by commuters using microchips back in the 19th century. No one.

In Reply to: Re: If Rutan can, well? posted by JimK on September 19, 2005 at 15:54:44 PST:

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