Generation Ships--- Can we build one now?

Samloyal23 · Jan 26, 2019

Personally, I am confident we will have a faster than light drive within another century. But in the meantime, could we start building a generation ship to explore nearby stars and maybe start a colony on another planet? What technology would we need to develop? How many people would need to be in the crew? How much would it cost?

Zardnaar · Jan 26, 2019

No main reason is we don't have a planet we can go to followed by we don't know what the effects of long term exposure to zero/low g would be. IDK if we have artificial gravity.

It also takes 12 years to get to the edge of the solar system. We would need some sort of nuclear/fusion power, some sort of artifical gravity and a planet that is confirmed that can support human life. Then we would also have to deal with alien microbes if we got there.

Hussar · Jan 26, 2019

We’re quite a ways from anything approaching a generation ship. Good grief we cannot even land people on Mars currently.

Unfortunately we’re centuries away from generational ships.

Shasarak · Jan 26, 2019

Samloyal23 said:
Personally, I am confident we will have a faster than light drive within another century. But in the meantime, could we start building a generation ship to explore nearby stars and maybe start a colony on another planet? What technology would we need to develop? How many people would need to be in the crew? How much would it cost?

Those are some good questions to ask. I understand that Dr Mae Jemison and the 100 year starship team are trying to work out exactly how we would be able to do this in the next 100 years.

One of the biggest hurdles at the moment is energy generation which may require developement of something like a fusion or antimatter reactor that would actually be really useful for those of us still on Earth.

Tonguez · Jan 26, 2019

Samloyal23 said:
Personally, I am confident we will have a faster than light drive within another century. But in the meantime, could we start building a generation ship to explore nearby stars and maybe start a colony on another planet? What technology would we need to develop? How many people would need to be in the crew? How much would it cost?

SO far even the basics of maintaining an artificial biosphere has not been perfected, although it is being worked on. The major issue of reliable longterm gravity and oxygen generation need to be developed, as is the issue of maintaining immunity balanced against preventing widespread infection.

A secure power source is also needed, most likely small, self contained nuclear fusion generators of some sought.
There is also the factor of cosmic radiation and the need for ionization shielding on the exterior of the ship to prevent DNA damage.

Finally noone knows what the full psychological and physiological affects of taking humans off earth from longer periods is.

So no I dont think Generations Ships are ready to be built and probably wont be built before we get a settlement on the Moon

DQDesign · Jan 26, 2019

Considering how much technology is kept hidden from the masses, I think it is more a matter of politics rather than tech level

dragoner · Jan 26, 2019

A big O'Neill cylinder might work; nevertheless, as others have stated, radiation shielding is the big ticket item. However, the amount of material, and labor it would take to create would be huge, for example, the International Space Station is the most expensive vehicle ever built, so imagine the cost of something thousands of times bigger, and then just to fling it off into space? Probably not anytime soon. Baby steps now, Mars by the mid 2030's, then a moon base, and space elevator.

MarkB · Jan 26, 2019

Aside from fuel and power generation, you need to be able to build a vessel that can be maintained in active use without any external resources for a period of decades or centuries without any major loss of functionality.

And then you need to do the same to the crew and social structure onboard - in order to remain functional, a generation ship would likely need to be a totalitarian regime with exacting population controls and a flawless education system that will instruct multiple generations in every aspect of what will be needed in order to operate and maintain the vessel, followed by all the skills and expertise required to establish a colony on an unknown alien world. Successive generations won't have the luxury of being able to make any choices about their lives or career paths, because every single one of them will be needed to fulfill essential shipboard functions.

Janx · Jan 26, 2019

I'd read these a while back, their pessimism ruining my day for at least a pico-second.

One is the guy who says colonizing Mars so we can "escape Earth" is harder than surviving whatever catastrophe happens on earth (ex. asteroid hits us, we still have air, gravity, radiation shielding and no travel time here compared to getting to Mars to avoid the hit).

https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2018/aug/28/the-case-against-mars-colonisation

the other is the sci-fi novelist who pokes wholes in generation ships because stuff breaks and it all has to survive so many hundreds of years.

https://www.tor.com/2016/01/15/generation-ships-science-space-obstacles/

Anywho, I think they raise valid points, but miss the bigger picture of we gotta get out of this place. In a few billion years, poof, it'll be gone.

To paraphrase Commander Sinclair of Babylon 5, "if we don't, then what was it all for?"

Tonguez · Jan 26, 2019

MarkB said:
Aside from fuel and power generation, you need to be able to build a vessel that can be maintained in active use without any external resources for a period of decades or centuries without any major loss of functionality.

And then you need to do the same to the crew and social structure onboard - in order to remain functional, a generation ship would likely need to be a totalitarian regime with exacting population controls and a flawless education system that will instruct multiple generations in every aspect of what will be needed in order to operate and maintain the vessel, followed by all the skills and expertise required to establish a colony on an unknown alien world. Successive generations won't have the luxury of being able to make any choices about their lives or career paths, because every single one of them will be needed to fulfill essential shipboard functions.

although they were pre-industrial a number of societies with specialised career linked to particular families survived on small islands around the world, so its possible that a generation ship would also be made up of various self-contained 'sections' where the families learn a particular set of specialised knowledge/skill which contribute to the ships maintenance and operation and with social mobility facilitated through the common areas.

The bigger issue is that even reproduction and the ability to get pregnant seems to depend on the influence of gravity - so the whole question of if babies can even be conceived and carried in space still needs to be tested

Generation Ships--- Can we build one now?

Samloyal23

Adventurer

Zardnaar

Legend

Hussar

Legend

Shasarak

Banned

Tonguez

A suffusion of yellow

DQDesign

Guest

dragoner

KosmicRPG.com

MarkB

Legend

Janx

Hero

Tonguez

A suffusion of yellow

Similar Threads