ASTRON C10 Lecture Notes - Lecture 36: Interstellar Travel
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ASTRON C10 Full Course Notes
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Number of communicating civilizations in our galaxy - the drake equation. R = average rate of star formation (stars/year) Fs = fraction of stars that are good suns. Fp = fraction of good stars with planetary systems. Ne = number of planets or moons per star in the habitable zone. Fl = the fraction of ne on which life develops. Fi = fraction of living species that develop intelligence. Fc = fraction that reach electromagnetic communicative phase. L = lifetime in communicative phase (years). The voyager spacecraft would at least take a million years. Could be possible with einstein"s special theory of relativity. Moving clocks run more slowly than at rest: Tround trip = 17. 5 years says earth person. Traveler says (0. 1)(17. 5 years) = 1. 75 years! Can age less, so jump into the future! ( time dilation ) Richard p. feynman poem (favorite of alex) The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it"s comprehensible -
