February 26th, 2011 | 
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Pandora is the idyllic blue world featured in the movie Avatar. Its location is a real place: Alpha Centauri, the nearest star to our Sun and the most likely destination for our first journey beyond the solar system. Remarkably, it’s anti-matter, the science fiction fuel of choice that could take us there. Normally, it’s only created in powerful jets that roar out of black holes. We can now produce small quantities in Earth-bound particle colliders. Will we journey out only to plunder other worlds? Or will we come in peace? The answer may depend on how we see Earth at that time in the distant future. The year is 2154. Our planet has been ruined by environmental catastrophe. In the movie Avatar, greedy prospectors from Earth descend on the world of an innocent hunter-gatherer people called the Na’vi. Their home is a lush moon far beyond our solar system called Pandora. Could such a place exist? And could our technology… and our appetite for exploration… one day send us hurtling out to reach it? In fact, the supposed site of this fictional solar system is one of our most likely interstellar targets, until a better destination turns up. Pandora orbits a fictional gas planet called Polyphemus. Its home is a real place… Alpha Centauri… the brightest star in the southern constellation of Centaurus. At 4.37 light years away, it’s part of the closest star system to our sun. Alpha Centauri is actually two stars, A and B, one slightly larger and more luminous than our own …
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Tags: 26 Responses to “Voyage to Pandora: First Interstellar Space Flight”
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@18tailedfox
Lol, dude. Pollution is not “tearing apart” the environment or “creating deserts.” Methinks you have been listening to a few to many Hollywood nutjobs.
There is no legitimate scientific reason why the earth could not sustain 70 billion people, or 700 billion.
@twk373 Think about this, pollution just from the amount of people we have now is tearing apart our environment, creating larger desert like areas, frequent calls from mother nature. think of how that would effect places like america whos economy is going down the toilet, this isnt just about earth but politics ect. but even still this world cannot sustain us for much longer. just think about the increasing temperature do to increased green house gass, that will be up to 11 degrees hotter
@18tailedfox
What evidence do you have that we’re “struggling” with 6.5 billion? The reason the third world is struggling is because they have no productive infrastructure (also because of communism and Islam), not for a lack of resources.
@twk373 What in gods name are you talking about? its struggling with just 9 billion, mabye 20 billion but 70 no… i dont know what earth you live on
@twk373
as i stated you dont know what capitalism is lol look it up in a dictionary seems your the clueless one. and im anti communism i live in a real domocracy not a domockery like your country
@sephiroth7156
You are hilariously clueless, you little commie twat. Millions of people did actually starve to death in your beloved USSR. Capitalism is nothing but freedom. Politicians, too, are a natural outcome from people being free. And religion? Lol. You complain about wars, while you want to murder 6 billion plus people.
@twk373 there are foods that can last for over a year some over 2 years those foods would last till these groups can sustain a sufficiant food source which would take about a year, 6months at the least for certain foods, calfs pigglets can be transported cause lets face if we could get to another planets we could transport live stock. electricity is also easy to obtain via solar power technology, they can also charge generators for the night. you obviously dont know shit
@twk373
religion is the reason the usa and iraq/afganistan are at war plus religion is all bullshit anyway, politicians only have there best interests at heart not those of the people as does capitalism you take those out the people would then live for them selfs in groups farming, technology, medical science etc would be the responsibility of those qualified in those field and there responsibility to train other in their fields as for starvation thats impossible.
@sephiroth7156
What are you, 12? Ban religion? Something like 95% of people are religious. Ban capitalism? Sure, if you want everyone to starve to death. Ban politicians? Sure, if you want all disagreements to end by people killing each other. Idiot.
@18tailedfox
We do not need to “expand” if we want to live. Earth can support 70 billion people easily. Probably 700 billion.
@navylaks2
spot on there man if we did find another planet i say ban religion, capitalism and bullsit politicians that way nobody gets screwed. you know what people say nobody dies a virgin in the end life fucks us all…
1) thanks for posting this im going to go into anti matter reserch/ military weponry(maybey) when i grow up
2)right now i give the world about a century, we need to expand if we want to live, i also presume the life span will be increased to about 120 so the population will be much to high for life on this planet.
3)antimatter is our only option at this point i hope that i may find a solution when i finish collage, wish me.. us luck.
The more you know the more you realized how much you don’t know.
@Coasterfan87 You watch too much startrek man.
@Helge129
In terms of new scientific principles, there really hasn’t been anything new over the last 50 years. Technology has advanced as a function of engineering and design, and it’s basically just picking off all the low-hanging fruit. We could build a fission rocket down, but something like a fusion rocket or an antimatter rocket requires science and engineering we just don’t have yet, and may never have. And a warp drive is eons beyond either of those.
@twk373 I wasn’t talking about the warp drive specifically. I was talking about technology overall.
@Coasterfan87
There is no such thing as a “plasma shield” or “slipspace”.
@Helge129
I don’t think you know what you’re talking about. In terms of the technology to build a “warp” drive, we haven’t advanced “very far” in the last 50 years.
@twk373 I doubt that. Going by how we’ve advanced in the past 50 years alone, a warp drive isn’t very far away imho.
One way you could prevent a grain of dust from destroying the spacecraft is by using a plasma shield. Like in the shield in Science Fiction. Objects would be able to exit but no objects would be able enter the space inside the shield. Slipspace travel would be nice.
@Helge129
We are thousands of years away from implementing a “warp” drive (I assume you mean a Alcubierre drive), if it’s even possible. Just because the principles are there doesn’t mean we can actually build it. I would hardly call it “very” possible.
@twk373 warp drives would like to have a word with you. And yes, they are physically very possible.
@sniperfury1
Everyone knows that.
@twk373 and you forgot to mention that Laser travels at the speed of light, because it is light.
@navylaks2
No, we won’t. According to science, interstellar war is impossible. If you built a warship, it would take decades (more realistically, centuries) to arrive and they would see it coming the whole time (space has no horizon, and engines are as bright as stars). When it shows up, they just fry it with a planetary laser, which (aside from being decades/centuries more advanced than the warship) will have a thousand times the firepower anyway because it’s based on a planet and not a ship.
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