[meteorite-list] Speed-of-light question

[Darren Garrison]

On Wed, 26 Aug 2009 09:46:42 -0600, you wrote:

>Like I said, a mere engineering problem. Nothing in physics precludes a 
>battery on your ship with that amount of energy content. 

Let's round up the acceleration from .7xg to 1g-- just to provide Earthlike
artificial gravity.  According to the calculator, on that 4.37 ly trip to Alpha
C, at 1g of acceleration, the maximum kinetic energy of the ship will be around
200,000,000,000,000,000 joules per kilogram of mass.  And, remember, the fuel
used to generate that acceleration will have to be carried, too, and will itself
have to be accelerated (unless you have some sort of Buzzard ramjet arrangement,
which could provide some of that fuel.)  What energy source are you proposing
that could provide that energy?