using Earth as a starting point for space travel

[mankind2.0]

Firstly apologies if there is a similar thread already out there but I was wondering what are peoples views on using Earth as a starting point for an epic space journey? From a real life point of view for us to reach the edge of our own galaxy would take a long time, can it be expected that the first journey out of our solar system would take many decades? Would people suggest establishing that this has been done many times before so it can be almost brushed over?

 

[tinkerdan]

A lot depends on what you are trying to achieve. I'd guess that with a Terran center universe you would start from Earth. But with that in mind a great step off point from there would be a station in perhaps a Lagrange point and since we are already talking of visits to Mars then perhaps Mars would be better. By then though we might have conquered the solar system before going interstellar so perhaps the Farpoint station would be on the outer planets or beyond and at some place we would, as with breaking the atmospher of Earth, break from the influence of the solar system so maybe there would be a Way Station at that point from there we reach the other stars. So there might be a progression with several starts and you can begin where ever it is convenient.

This is assuming that you don't have star-gates or warp drive or Jump technologies or spooky distant copy machines[See Ralph Kern's Endeavour]
.http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ONA7G9Q/?tag=brite-21

 

[Brian G Turner]

I remember I used to fixate on every microscopic detail of my plot - only to discover later that I'd yet to learn about macroscopic structural issues - character development, conflict, three act structure, heroic myth, etc.

My problem was that I wasn't reading enough in my genre, so of course I didn't have a clue about what story elements published writers used, and how they put them together.

In which case, I can only recommend that you look more closely at the science fiction that has been published over the past ten years or so - because if you're aiming at traditional publishing, that's your roadmap to what publishers want.

 

[mankind2.0]

Thank you again Tinkerdan, you have been very helpful in a couple of my threads, I do like the idea of a waypoint station particularly if its far away from earth, it makes it more vulnerable and more self reliant. Also Brian thank you, I think you've made a few valid points, I need to untangle myself from the small details and also brush up a little more on the genre. Ultimately as you say I do need to look more closely at what has been released as ultimately the finished work needs to be put in the shop window and marketable to people.

 

[Rolynd]

Voyager is just reaching interstellar space, and that's taken 37 years...although there is some debate about that, since there is still another 300 years before it reaches the Oort cloud!

I think with SF the general choice is no faster than light travel and lots of hibernation sleeps for crews while they get to where they are going or just stick a magic box (hyperdrive, wormholes) in somewhere. So long as you remain true to the dynamics you create then you can have it take as long as you like I think, it's your story!

Edit: to also add with regards to the edge of the galaxy, that's about 13,000 light years away. Travelling as fast as we've ever been able to make a spaceship go, that is a journey time to the edge of the galaxy of roughly 12 million years! So we need faster spaceships

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Depends if you go up/down (It's like a fried egg) or out to edge. The galaxy is oval too, so I forget which axis 100,000LY is. 13,000 LY sounds too much for up/down and too little for nearest in plane of galaxy, I'd have thought more like 20,000 LY, but I always have to look stuff up for exact figures so could be wrong.

New Horizons is very much faster. Voyager has no propulsion. A decent continuous propulsion system will take you far past Voyager in much less than six months.

But six months of 1G is about the practical limit even for Fusion power unless you refuel. So without a Jump/Hyper drive or Star gate/portal / wormhole you need to use less than half the fuel and then coast till a suitable distance away from destination, point thrust at destination and accelerate at same amount as before for same time, roughly. Hence you need a margin of fuel for final navigation and orbiting.
If your craft has a Jump engine that only works in deep space (say just outside Knuipner belt and WELL inside Oort cloud), then it turns out the best strategy for fuel is to NEVER orbit, you drop "shuttles" and "shuttles"/"rockets" already on a planet rendezvous as you "whizz" past. The extra fuel /mass and energy (even if fusion) to break from a deep space jump (as you'll still have the velocity you reached accelerating to deep space) to actually orbit is very much more. The 2nd lot of craft already on the planet re-supply and refuel the passing Starship and are taken on board to be "dropped off" at the next Homeworld transit (where you pick up a new lot). As jumps can be a different direction to the normal space velocity, the Starship can go back and forth between two Homeworlds repeating the same manoeuvre adjusted gradually due to planet's orbit.

 

[willwallace]

I would think designing an engine/fuel system that can be replenished while traveling in outer space-somehow harnessing, say, hydrogen, or cosmic radiation-you could refuel while coasting, after reaching your maximum velocity. That could give you some extra flexibility when you reach your destination.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Any known material for a hydrogen ram scoop may slow you down more than the material it gathers, but that has been proposed.

Using Cosmic Radiation (practically a perpetual motion device) has been proposed. It would give very little thrust and there is no known way to implement it.

Basically you can have anything as long as you don't try and detail it or explain it.

 

[tinkerdan]

The Earth is my springboard from which I shall dive into the sun.

TinkerDan 1-6-2015

So the sidewalk is covered in snow and I pushed it onto the grass unfortunately I went too far down the walk and did my neighbors sidewalk and put it on his grass. Now he's up in arms; knocking on my door and complaining that I'm putting my snow in his yard.
Mind you technically it was his snow I put in his yard. He's equating it to driving over his lawn with a truck.

Now I'm trying to keep myself restrained from driving the truck across his lawn to give him a reality check.

 

[Avid Scifi Fan]

I think it also depends on your timescale. Is this taking place in the near or far future? For near, I would recommend some sort of sublight with hybernation (but this would still limit your travel options). Far future (or with some magic breakthrough) use of a hyperdrive like system to traverse the great distances.

Starting with earth implies your trying to keep it more real. Don't put a half dozen stars within a short skip from earth unless you rationalize your travel mechanism. If you deviate too far without proper explaination, you will push things more into fantasy. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but you would need to set up your readers expectations for that early on.