Solar System and Space Travel

DWhen he arrived, he immediately set off.

I started to get a lot of interest in space travel quite early on. The highlight, of course, was the landing on the moon. In the beginning, those landings received massive media attention. Over time, it decreased more and more. After an x number of landings, people had pretty much seen it there on the moon. And indeed, I catch myself that if I can't sleep I watch YouTube with images from a Japanese Selene orbiter flying around the moon. This is as sleep-inducing as counting sheep. Boring. There is only one moment when you wake up with a start and that is the moment the earth appears above the lunar horizon. This is of unparalleled beauty. The black of the universe in which that bright blue planet floats. That planet is so blue because 72% of the earth's surface consists of water. You've done that before.

 

Our solar system consists of eight planets and a semi-planet on the edge, Pluto, which describe elliptical orbits around the sun. 

Some planets, such as Jupiter, also have moons. Then you think. Enough possibilities for manned space travel. But what are we looking for then? Don't get me wrong. All very interesting for research and special minerals. But will we ever go there to live? Or will we find life there?

Of these eight planets, do you know how many of these are rocky? So that you can walk there, so to speak.

No idea. FOUR !

 

Mercury is closest to the sun. This is very hot on the sunny side, about 160 degrees Celsius. And on the dark side -250 degrees. Atrocious.

 

Next comes Venus. You can often see this in the evening and morning sky as a very bright star. It's not a star, it's a planet. They must have used this planet as a source of inspiration for HELL in the bible. It has an atmosphere that consists of 95% carbon monoxide (CO2) and a pressure that is 90 times higher than on Earth. This traps the sun's heat up to about 500 degrees Celsius, greenhouse effect, is full of toxic fumes.  In short, misery. 

 

Then follows that fantastically beautiful earth. This has very moderate temperatures, so that, for example, the water does not evaporate or freeze. The Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere protect us from dangerous radiation and meteorites from space. 

 

Then follows Mars. Elon Musk, whom I greatly admire, by the way, wants to make humans a multiplanetary species, starting with Mars. So I don't agree with this. Mars is not a spare copy of Earth.

Man thinks he can escape to this if things get out of hand on earth due to an atomic war or an environmental disaster. Well, let me disturb them. It used to be thought that there was life on Mars and that the lines they observed were channels for water. None of that. Lethal radiation from the sun and a gravity one fifth that of the earth. So you would have to live underground to escape the radiation. But there is no escape from the low gravity. Your muscles will weaken enormously over time and it also affects your bones, causing bone decalcification. For example, you will no longer be able to return to Earth. You are physically too degenerate. So escaping as humanity to Mars, I don't see it. Only as a sort of penal camp. It is perilous to think that Mars can save humanity if things go wrong on Earth. Just look on Youtube. There are many movies about Mars. You only see stones and sand. Mars is a big sandbox. There is no planet B. We have to save Planet Earth.

 

Then the giants of the solar system follow. Jupiter, Saturn (the one of those rings) Uranus and Neptune. These are huge gas planets. You can't land or walk anywhere. Well on the moons near these planets. For example, Jupiter has many. Interesting for humanity to survive. Well no.

 

Finally, we have Pluto. There is disagreement as to whether this is still a planet. It is rocky and in the outer orbit of the sun. Temperature -235 degrees Celsius. Sun is very far away and you see it as a kind of star, whatever it is.

 

NASA wants you to believe otherwise. We may see traces of life or even existing life. They must continue to receive money, of course. 

So my advice to NASA is: Stop human spaceflight. Continue robots. As they have done fantastically with, among others, the robot “Curiosity” on Mars. Make these robots as small as possible. That also makes space exploration much more affordable. 

 

So what is left to visit? To other stars in our own galaxy? The closest star is Alpha Centauri. 4.3 light years away. Then you think at first. 4.3 light years, that should be doable! Well, let me help you out of the dream again. This is so far that it is hardly comprehensible for us.

Check it out. Light travels at a speed of 300,000 km per second multiplied by 60 seconds for the minute, times 60 for the hour times 24, times 365, times 4.3.

300,000 x 60 (sec) x 60 (min) x 24 x 365 x 4.3.

My iPhone can no longer handle the number of zeros, I think. But let's try it: 40,681,440,000,000 km.

With our current fastest rockets, that would take us about 80,000 years.

But apart from that, it is impossible to reach the speed of light. This according to Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity and he has always been right until now. Nothing goes faster than light. 

And then you still have no idea what you will find here. To live? Intelligent living? No idea. We can already find out a lot with astronomical viewers. Like the Hubble and hopefully soon the James Webb telescope. So for now a visit to Alpha Centauri is not in it.

 

But what then? I've thought about that for a long time.