Re: Interstellar Propulsion idea using an Asteroid and a few comets!

From: AA Institute (abdul.ahad_at_ntlworld.com)
Date: 08/14/04 

Date: 14 Aug 2004 16:17:55 -0700

> Your optimism is founed upon ignorance.

That's a matter of opinion and based on how flexible people want to be
about the realm of possibilities. I like to think that my concept is
not based on *complete* sci-fi, unlke many other ideas floating around
out there inside people's heads.
>
> There is no reason to believe there is any signifigant distribution of
> comets/asteroids past the heiopause. The heliopause is the point where
> Sol's stellar wind is indistinguishable from the rest of the crap
> being sent out from other stars.

But the fact remains very clear that comets do come our way in from
*interstellar* space, and quite frequently so. I am confident that
once our ability to peer deeper into space with more sensitive
instruments, we will be able to identify comets long before they reach
the heliopause. A future on-orbit multiple telescope interferometry
arrangement, like the ones planned for detecting Earth sized planets
around nearby stars, could locate faint comets perhaps as far as
several hundreds of AUs out beyond the orbit of Pluto.
>
>
> You lack a sense of scale.
>
> Light from Sol to Earth takes 8 minutes.
>
> Light from any of the stars in the Centauri system takes anywhere from
> 4 to 4.5 years to get here.
>
> Light speed is roughly 3 x 10^8 meters per second. The only drive
> system, that is even remotely feasable, which could take us to a star
> in less than a few thousand years would be Orion or some kind of
> hybrid nuclear / ion drive.
>
I have not fully detailed the propulsion methods as yet. There is
nothing to suggest that some kind of hybrid/nuclear propulsion would
not be used to augment the initial departure burn from near Earth or
in-solar system space.

> >> >Has anyone come across an Asteroid-Comet amalgam for a space ship
> >> >design like mine? If I am re-inventing the wheel with my
> >> >*revolutionary* "Ahad-AstroCom" generation starship concept... then
> >> >please tell me!
> >>
> >> Generation ships.
> >
> >Generally, yes I agree. Is there a *specific* design out there though,
> >which is based on continuous "comet sucking" for propulsion and crew
> >life support that you may be aware of?
>
> Not that I am aware of. I would doubt it, considering there is no
> reason to believe there is enough stuff out there to use that is
> larger than a hydrogen atom.
>
Good! Then my idea is a first "comet sucking", Ahad AsterCom starship
design. The countdown has already started...its ticking away silently
toward some as yet un-determined launch date which *may* come to
fruition one day...not that I'd be there to see it of course!

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