Starbound : Interstellar Travel and the Limits of the Possible / Ed Regis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Regis, Edward, 1944- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Interstellar travel.

Manned space flight.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 240 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, England : Cambridge University Press, [2025]

Summary:

This book is for anyone enthralled by the romantic dream of a voyage 'to the stars.' From our current viewpoint in the twenty-first century, crewed interstellar travel will be an exceptionally difficult undertaking. It will require building a spacecraft on a scale never before attempted, at vast cost, relying on unproven technologies. Yet somehow, through works of science fiction, TV and movies, the idea of human interstellar travel being easy or even inevitable has entered our popular consciousness. In this book, Ed Regis critically examines whether humankind is bound for distant stars, or if instead we are bound to our own star, for the indefinite future. How do we overcome the main challenge that even the nearest stars are unimaginably far away? He explores the proposed technologies and the many practical aspects of undertaking an interstellar journey, finishing with his reflections on whether such a journey should be planned for

Contents:

Origins of the dream

The 100 year starship

Three icons of star travel

Project Orion

Where to?

The world ship

Hail Mary Propulsion Systems, Inc.

The fate of the crew

The moral status of the trip

Let us hibernate

Why go?

The odds

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 16 Dec 2024).

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781009457583

1009457586

9781009457576

1009457578

9781009457552

1009457551

OCLC:

1492745780