Years ago, at an sf con, there was
Fran, me and another guy. The other guy thought that the light speed limit was frustrating: so many things that we can see from a distance but cannot explore close up. I was not so sure. At any stage of transportation technology, we will be able to see further than we can travel. That is part of the deal. We are at least
in the universe and can surely travel at least to the limits of the Solar System and improve telescopes to see much further than we can now. Other galaxies remain as mysterious to Poul Anderson's Technic Historians as they are to us. A few of his characters go further but they cannot see everything.
Fran said that there are so many things that we do not know, that maybe among the things that we do not know is a way to travel faster than light. Not if the light speed limit really is a fundamental physical feature of this universe. Science is always provisional. The vastness of the unknown is a reason to continue learning, not to hope for a particular outcome. Whatever we learn will be unexpected. We will return this point from another direction later.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Correct, the technology available to us set limits on how far we can go. It's my hope we are finally, at long last, on the verge of humans being able travel thru out the Solar System. And, because of things like the James Webb Telescope, we can peer even further into the universe.
Even if something like Anderson's quantum hyperspace FTL drive, or Alcubierre's real world FTL theory can be shown as theoretically possible, the nuts-and-bolts practical engineering needed to make anything like that a reality will be a huge barrier to climb over.
But if, because of SpaexX we finally get off this rock in a really serious way, what may be discovered or invented as a result could possibly help lead mankind to the stars. In fact, it's possible Elon Musk might make SpaceX go public, offering stock for sale. I asked my financial advisor to watch out for that and inform me if that happens, because I'll want to buy some of that stock.
I'm reminded of D.D. Harriman, Anson Guthrie, and Nicholas van Rijn!
Ad astra! Sean
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