We cannot build one of those either. We do not what would give it a stable ecology and we do not know enough about biology to know how to keep anything healthy in space long term.
"Promising hints of life on distant planet"
- Thread starter Dioltach
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Not now, of course, but physics doesn't prevent it.
If there ever is a generation ship, it will probably be a stable asteroid colony that we then strap a solar sail and some fusion drives to.
I feel like this is argument for argument’s sake. You knew what I was saying. This semantic debate is not interesting to me.
So let's pretend for a moment that this is in fact the signature of life AND it turns out there there is a reasonably advanced civilization present. Knowing that it will take 124 years for a directed signal to reach them, and another 124 years to receive a reply, if any, would YOU, if put in charge, order contact? If so, how so and to what degree?
For example, given the serious nature of our impending environmental collapse, I wouldn't just order contact, I would start sending as much of our history and literature and art to them as possible (let's assume we could figure out how, including some sort of mathematical Rosetta stone) just to ensure that something of our civilization might survive us.
For example, given the serious nature of our impending environmental collapse, I wouldn't just order contact, I would start sending as much of our history and literature and art to them as possible (let's assume we could figure out how, including some sort of mathematical Rosetta stone) just to ensure that something of our civilization might survive us.
Maybe maybe not, who knows what the future holds but I think if we get stable asteroid colonies then we will get Oort Cloud colonies and then hopping to a neighbouring system may not need much in the line of special technology.
I really doubt there will be high C starships, too much stuff in the interstellar medium and hitting a rock at that speed would be catastrophic.
I also would not order contact but not for the reasons you provide. I am reasonably that human civilisation will survive, perhaps not any current one.
If you want aliens to learn of us, put the archive on the moon and perhaps other moons where they aliens that come here will find it.
Beaming messages into the void may annoy the neighbours. No one likes the neighbours playing loud music.
The Oort cloud is exceedingly empty, far more so than the asteroid belt. There is a lot of stuff there but it is a HUGE area.
Probably, although that is why you want a hollowed out asteroid for a ship -- it can take a lot more high velocity impacts. Interstellar space is very empty, too. The chances of colliding with something larger than a grain of sand are essentially nil.
But it is the current one -- you know, the one I live in -- that I want to preserve for posterity.
This is a good idea, too. Also, there are a few geologically super stable points on earth that we should build massive monuments on for future civilizations.
If they have the capacity to get here, they don't need anything from us.
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