[meteorite-list] Speed-of-light question

[Chris Peterson]

> To get a ship merely very close to the speed of
> light would take much less energy, say the total
> energy output of a few galactic clusters,
> give or take...

Like I said, a mere engineering problem. Nothing in physics precludes a 
battery on your ship with that amount of energy content. But damping 
inertia... that's another matter completely.

Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Darren Garrison" <cynapse at charter.net>
To: "Chris Peterson" <clp at alumni.caltech.edu>
Cc: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 10:43 AM
Subject: Re: Re: [meteorite-list] Speed-of-light question


On Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:55:35 -0600, you wrote:

>Engines capable of steady acceleration are not impossible or fictional. 
>They
>are real and already in use. It is a mere <g> engineering problem to 
>produce
>one that can operate long enough to reach another star.
>

But the closer an object gets to the speed of light, the higher your 
inertial
mass becomes-- so you are constantly having to use more and more energy, 
pushing
harder and harder just to maintain that constant rate of acceleration.  To 
get
an object with a rest mass infinitely close to the speed of light would take 
an
infinite amount of energy.  To get a ship merely very close to the speed of
light would take much less energy, say the total energy output of a few 
galactic
clusters, give or take...