Space travel to the stars......Even when we can do it, shouldn't we then wait for another 25-50 years?

[barnacler]

Because.... in the ensuing years, surely technology will develop to the point that we LATER could send a mission that will arrive BEFORE the previous mission, due to better propulsion technologies. Plus we could send more people, bigger ships, better equipment, etc etc.

Kind of like like heading out to cross the the ocean in a canoe when you know that in a few days ocean liner will be available.

 

[y2kmark]

Because.... in the ensuing years, surely technology will develop to the point that we LATER could send a mission that will arrive BEFORE the previous mission, due to better propulsion technologies. Plus we could send more people, bigger ships, better equipment, etc etc.

Kind of like like heading out to cross the the ocean in a canoe when you know that in a few days ocean liner will be available.

Lotsa good SF stories based on GT light speed or some variation of time travel. You might find John Carter of Mars more fascinating than Hollywood did. Oh, Ocean liners available? Hard to keep those suckers afloat in the long run. Much better the canoe (or kayak) these days...

 

[oil&gas]

Because.... in the ensuing years, surely technology will develop to the point that we LATER could send a mission that will arrive BEFORE the previous mission, due to better propulsion technologies. ........................

If the mission using better propulsion technology could
catch up with the previous mission launched 25 to 50
years earlier it is prudent to wait so you
can bring back the dead bodies of the crew flying the first
mission. It is highly unlikely any one can survive the boredom
of space travelling for more than 10 to 20 years. Of course
the rescue mission has to be accomplished in a shorter period
like 1 to 2 years for you t come back alive.

 

[lessjamie7]

Because.... in the ensuing years, surely technology will develop to the point that we LATER could send a mission that will arrive BEFORE the previous mission, due to better propulsion technologies. Plus we could send more people, bigger ships, better equipment, etc etc.

Kind of like like heading out to cross the the ocean in a canoe when you know that in a few days ocean liner will be available.

With that thinking, America would have never been discovered.

LJ

 

[barnacler]

With that thinking, America would have never been discovered.

LJ

Technology wasn't changing then anything like as quickly as it is now.

 

[Bobzilla]

With overpopulation, depletion of food and other resources, and quickening climate change, it may not be practicable to wait.

 

[Jenesis]

Because.... in the ensuing years, surely technology will develop to the point that we LATER could send a mission that will arrive BEFORE the previous mission, due to better propulsion technologies. Plus we could send more people, bigger ships, better equipment, etc etc.

Kind of like like heading out to cross the the ocean in a canoe when you know that in a few days ocean liner will be available.

Can’t that always be said. In 50 years when we think things are good to go, can’t we just say the same thing then and postpone another 50 years? The cycle will just continue. You have to take the leap at some point. May as well do it now.

 

[y2kmark]

With that thinking, America would have never been discovered.

LJ

You mean there would be clean air and water and a population who had appropriate respect for the land and everything on it? Sounds like more SF...

 

[y2kmark]

With overpopulation, depletion of food and other resources, and quickening climate change, it may not be practicable to wait.

It may not be practicable to survive, either. Very few truly recognize the risk....

 

[Indiana]

I’d love to be on the second mission and be sitting there on the planet when the first mission arrived.
See the looks on their faces.

 

[lessjamie7]

You mean there would be clean air and water and a population who had appropriate respect for the land and everything on it? Sounds like more SF...

Are you talking to me, if so you are not making any sense with respect to my comment, and what is SF?

LJ

 

[downbound123]

Are you talking to me, if so you are not making any sense with respect to my comment, and what is SF?

LJ

Just a wild guess....Science Fiction?????????

 

[barnacler]

With overpopulation, depletion of food and other resources, and quickening climate change, it may not be practicable to wait.

I dont regard any of those as a problem, and the history of the world shows that too.

 

[barnacler]

The key difference between, say upgrading a computer, knowing that it will be obsolete in 5 years, and thsi scenario, is that in the meantime the computer can do all kinds of work.

The only work of any concern in this trip, once exiting our solar system, is to GET THERE. So the time in between is really just dead time - the only thing that matters is the arrivl time.

Now, regarding jenesis's point concerning 'Can't that always be said"? - not really, some technologies mature more as less as far as they will go and then actually regress on key metrics.

For instance, The Concorde was faster than today's air travel.

But in any case, as I said, the key thing is that what happens in the meantime is unimportant. Its the arrival that counts.

 

[lessjamie7]

You mean there would be clean air and water and a population who had appropriate respect for the land and everything on it? Sounds like more SF...

Are you talking to me, if so you are not making any sense with respect to my comment.

LJ

 

[Renus]

There's nothing to see out there.

Just rocks and gas balls.

We should look around the solar system and that's it.

 

[oil&gas]

With that thinking, America would have never been discovered.

Seems like destination of the mission related in the OP
is known before launching of the space ship. It is not going
to discover some America-like paradise.

 

[HungSowel]

Space conspires to kill life at every opportunity. With that said, if we have a destination in mind and the rewards are high enough then we will send out one or two ships.

High enough motivations would be an earth-like planet that we can colonize or an intelligent race of aliens that is willing to do a technology exchange but only in person for some reason.

 

[onomatopoeia]

Because.... in the ensuing years, surely technology will develop to the point that we LATER could send a mission that will arrive BEFORE the previous mission, due to better propulsion technologies. Plus we could send more people, bigger ships, better equipment, etc etc.

Kind of like like heading out to cross the the ocean in a canoe when you know that in a few days ocean liner will be available.

Yeah, I read that in Marvel Super-Heroes issue #18, the first appearance of the Guardians of the Galaxy

https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Marvel_Super-Heroes_Vol_1?file=Marvel_Super-Heroes_Vol_1_18.jpg

 

[oil&gas]

Space conspires to kill life at every opportunity. With that said, if we have a destination in mind and the rewards are high enough then we will send out one or two ships.

High enough motivations would be an earth-like planet that we can colonize or an intelligent race of aliens that is willing to do a technology exchange but only in person for some reason.

To this day we do not even know if the hypothesized
Neptune-sized Planet Nine exists in our solar system.We may
have to send a spaceship searching around for a destination.