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The Universe Within 12.5 Light Years

(www.atlasoftheuniverse.com)
266 points algorithmista | 1 comments | 05 Sep 25 22:20 UTC | HN request time: 0.647s | source
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ghssds ◴[05 Sep 25 23:54 UTC] No.45145093[source]▶
It should be a goal for Earth to send a probe to one of those stars. As the probe will be unmaned, a mission taking a hundred years or more is not out of question.
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pkaye ◴[05 Sep 25 23:56 UTC] No.45145118[source]▶
How would it be powered?
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mattnewton ◴[06 Sep 25 00:09 UTC] No.45145197[source]▶
some combination of nuclear radiation and/or solar seems like it would fit the bill? 100 years is within the useful range of a large radioisotope generator.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_...

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lazide ◴[06 Sep 25 00:35 UTC] No.45145394[source]▶
RTGs lose power rapidly as the isotopes decay, and any sort of communication over those distances requires massive power. The Voyagers are essentially dead due to this issue, and they haven’t been out there nearly that long.
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no_wizard ◴[06 Sep 25 01:04 UTC] No.45145593[source]▶
What about a fission reactor?
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1. lazide ◴[06 Sep 25 02:43 UTC] No.45146175[source]▶
It would likely need a standalone fission reactor that only ‘goes hot’ when it arrives.

I’m not sure that we have the engineering ability to actually do that with any real chance of success after a 100 year deep space flight, or the willingness to wait that long to find out.