OT: There goes the Solar neighborhood...literally

[Jack]

--- Oren Beck <oren_beck at hotmail.com> wrote:
> Jack wrote:
> > Ok, this is way OT, but ...
> > they're making black holes in the lab now. Let's
> hope
> > they don't let one out. :'o
> > 
> >
>
http://news.com.com/In+labs+high-speed+collisions%2C+things+just+vanish/2100-7337_3-5644832.html?tag=nefd.top
> > 
...
> 
> Is it OT if the control software or modeling tools
> are Open Source?
Perhaps the engine design can be rendered on a Linux
server farm?
> 
...
> 
> Now does anyone on this list have the real maths
> background to offer 
> some intelligent
> comments on which of us is on or off track here.
Well what equation set are you looking for here? I've
had most every Math offered at an undergrad level, and
have several deggrees in Math. Tell me what equation
you're looking for and I can probably give it to you,
or look it up in one of my reference books or derive
it if not there. Provided it is a known equation. Of
course, some equations are not "solveable" and I would
probably have to resort to Engineering Math tricks (ie
polynomial solutions) to come up with a "solution" to
the equation(s).

I'm quite certain that one could take the Brookhaven
accelerator and place it in a spacecraft and achieve
relativistic speeds. I would need to know the mass of
it and the volume of possible output to calculate a
final velocity. However, simply saying that it is
possible to do doesn't imply it is practical or even
doable from a "cost" perspective. It might well cost
$100 Trillion dollars to equip such a spacecraft, not
to mention it would be probably a mile long. However,
you must remember that a spacecraft that leaves orbit
burning fuel at a constant rate will create a craft
travelling at a constant rate of acceleration. No
drag.
The only thing preventing such a craft from reaching
lightspeed is the effect of energy increase necessary
as you approach lightspeed. I have no doubt that a
particle accelerator is capable of propelling a
vehicle to .6C to .8C, but they are real expensive
babys and the amount of fuel needed might not be
realistic. However, if we could find a way to mass
produce metallic Hydrogen then we might have
something. By the way Voyager is using this basic
principle on a very small scale. Ion propulsion, and
Voyager is still accelerating and got a nice boost
from several heavenly bodies. Voyager will continue to
accelerate for many many years, until the
radioisotopic material decays sufficiently. Might be
an interesting math problem to calculate the final
velocity of Voyager.

Brian D.



		
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