Friends,
I sometimes wonder about it all.
How did we get here?
When did it all start?
How did it all start?
But, I think the things which draws my wonder skyward the most are the stars.
Oh, the moon is just awesome at times. But, with a good pair of binoculars, Nikon makes good ones, you can see the moon real well.
But, the stars are still just points of light.
Even the BIG telescopes only see points of light. All those ‘pretty pictures?’ Those are almost always artists renditions.
Photoshop.
So, do they look like the sun? Are they really big, small, medium? Are they red, yellow, white, or orange? Green? Do we really know?
It kinda draws me out.
I used to read a lot of Sci Fi. OK. I really don’t know anyone who read as much as I did.
My dad gives me a hard time about it all the time, “I just can’t read as fast as you do.”
Well, if the book IS good, I cannot either. Even I slow down.
But, for the most part, I read a book in a single flight …. Dallas to New York. Houston to DC. New York to San Fran or London …. I need extra books.
I actually bought a Kindle for just that reason …. YUCK! NEVER again. Kindle was a waste of money.
But, Sci-Fi let me wonder about the stars.
Are there people there? Monsters?
On TV, there are plenty of pretty actresses and actors. But, what is really there?
Is there a planet?
Is there water on the planet? Is there an atmosphere we can breathe?
Would humans survive a trip there? Much less getting back.
Yes, that takes me to nuclear propulsion ….. it is all the rage now. Some guy in Guatemala or someplace down there has decided it is the way.
I knew that 30 years ago.
Simple.
You either carry your nuclear fuel with you, or you catch it with a field (magnetic) ….. and you propel it out the back-end. And shield in between your propulsion and your ‘people.’ If you want them to live very long.
😉
We could make it. And we could return. Most likely we will go to Alpha Centauri. Because weak-minded politicians will fund the program for political purposes instead of scientific.
Our better goal would be one of the stars near the 10 to 15 Ly distance (15 to 20 Light Year distances). Total trip in the neighborhood of 50, or 60, years …. yes, you would need a multi-generational crew. Yes, the world would be different when you got back.
But, Alpha Centauri Proxima is not a significant star. IMHO.
And the area around it is not as star rich as Barnard’s Star. Again, IMHO.
And it always makes me wonder, “Why? Why did God go to all this trouble.” But, that is a man-sized perspective isn’t it?
When you look up? What do you think about?
Wayne
luvsiesous 