Oxymoron

At any point on a ship journey, rescue is possible, if not always feasible. An interstellar space journey means no hope of rescue if shit hits the and and the risks of that are much higher.

SULPHUR

You have to joking.Who would have rescued Magellan?

Jesse

My feeling is that within the next century we will probably develop the ability to upload human minds into computers, by mapping out a person's brain at the synaptic level and then performing a detailed simulation of it. If this becomes commonplace, then there'd be a lot of advantages to sending uploads as opposed to flesh-and-blood humans--you wouldn't have to worry about G-forces beyond those so high they'd wreck the probe, likewise radiation would be less of a hazard, but most importantly, if computer miniaturization continues for a while, the computer needed to simulate an upload (along with a comfortable simulated environment for it) could end up requiring far less mass then a human habitat module. Nanotechnology could also lead to the shrinking of other parts of the payload mass, like scientific equipment (and even if you don't agree with my prediction about human uploads, you might still agree that nanotechnology could lead to extremely lightweight unmanned probes, perhaps even self-reproducing Von Neumann machines).

SULPHUR

A very interesting article.The one point I would disagree with is the crustal rocks. the crust is made up of the SIAL and SIMA both of which are mixed and melted by the forces within the mantle.An example of this would be sanidine porphery.

ps418

Why not just create machines dedicated solely to the problems of space travel? Wouldn't that be more efficient that attempting to recreate a human brain in silico? After all, by volume most of our brain is geared to do things that are not particularly relevant to a silicon space traveller. To me, consciousness is the last thing I'd want to have on a decades-long space flight.

That uploaded mind would sure be pissed off when it found out that we launched it on an endless voyage into space. It would be sending angry messages back to earth for years.

Patrick

Jesse

ps418:
Why not just create machines dedicated solely to the problems of space travel?

Well, a human mind would probably be more versatile in solving problems should they arise, but besides that I think humans would like the idea of being able to personally explore and study other star systems, and possibly colonize them as well (physical conditions probably wouldn't matter much to an upload, but another solar system would contain a lot of raw material for creating more computers that upload civilizations would need to expand).

ps418:
Wouldn't that be more efficient that attempting to recreate a human brain in silico? After all, by volume most of our brain is geared to do things that are not particularly relevant to a silicon space traveller. To me, consciousness is the last thing I'd want to have on a decades-long space flight.

A simulated being can always just shut down for the duration of the voyage though, or run the simulation at a slower speed, so the subjective time can be as fast as it wants.

Oxymoron

IF Magellan had needed rescue, he would have had limitless air to breathe; cast adrift, he might have found somewhere safe to land, and that place could well sustain the need for food and water.

As I said, though rescue may be possible it might not be feasible.

SULPHUR

Very few people especially europeans would have survived on tierra del feugo. More chance of finding a safe planet.

Oxymoron

You have to be joking. You have watched too many Star Trek episodes, methinks.

SULPHUR

Ever been to patagonia, even the native humans died out