Category Archives: Space Travel

The Kessel Run

Posted on February 17, 2014 by colepospisil

In Star Wars: A New Hope, Han Solo claims to have made the Kessel Run in only 12 parsecs. It is at this point that a general outcry raises from the physicists who know that a parsec is a unit of distance, not time. But when one knows more about Star Wars, it all makes sense. […] Continue reading →

Posted in Space Travel | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Kessel Run

A New Generation of US Spaceflight

Posted on February 12, 2014 by jblubin

A new era of spaceflight is underway in America. The Space Shuttle program was retired in 2011 and ever since, if NASA wants to send an astronaut so space, they must buy a ticket on the Russian Soyuz rocket. But this status quo of depending on another nation to carpool to space is about to … Continue reading A New Generation of US Spaceflight → Continue reading →

Posted in Space Travel | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on A New Generation of US Spaceflight

Neil Armstrong

Posted on January 27, 2014 by karapetros

Admittedly, I had pinned this image on my Pinterest a while back. I think it is so fascinating and really puts the whole scale of our world and the universe into perspective. Neil Armstrong had the insane privilege to view the Earth in a way the no other human, animal, insect has been able to. […] Continue reading →

Posted in Space Travel | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Neil Armstrong

Beyond The Speed of Light?

Posted on January 27, 2014 by joshkphilips

How concrete are our laws of physics? Could there be a way to bend the laws and essentially travel beyond the speed of light? Could such an ability open the possibilities for interstellar space travel? These are some of the questions that surround the intriguing idea of wormholes. Two wormholes could in theory act as […] Continue reading →

Posted in Light, Physics, Space Travel | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Beyond The Speed of Light?

The Cosmic Speed Limit

Posted on January 19, 2014 by jblubin

It was Einstein who only came up with his Theory of Special Relativity after having been inspired by a daydream of himself riding on a beam of light across the cosmos. What a journey that must have been, despite its fantasy; our only idea of what travelling at the speed of light may look like […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Light, Space Travel | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The Cosmic Speed Limit

Fusion Propulsion

Posted on May 2, 2013 by kevinm387

Here is an interesting ted talk on fusion propulsion. Fusion propulsion would be just about the only way humans would be able to achieve interstellar space travel. Unfortunately, this possibility is still a long way off, as the speaker Jason Cassibry points out, but the concept is still there. Scientists have long been working on […] Continue reading →

Posted in Space Travel | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Fusion Propulsion

A Grim Future, Brightened by the Stars

Posted on April 29, 2013 by burnspress

For my culminating post, I want to reflect on how my perspective on space and the future of astronomy has changed over the course of Astronomy 201. Firstly, everything I learned in this course, from gravity and planetary formation to stars and habitable zones, has given me a fundamental and scientifically realistic understanding of space […] Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Space Travel | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on A Grim Future, Brightened by the Stars

The NASA Warp Drive

Posted on April 28, 2013 by brendanfeeley

In class last week, Dr. Grundstrom mentioned that NASA may be developing a warp-drive.  I’ve done a little research and here’s what I’ve found. Last September, NASA engineer Harold White spoke briefly at a conference in Houston about the possibility of creating and using a Warp Drive, which would allow faster-than-light travel.  He made a […] Continue reading →

Posted in Space Travel | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The NASA Warp Drive

Holes and Wrinkles

Posted on April 28, 2013 by ibrahim2016

There is a lot of misconception about two of the more arcane forms of proposed space travel: Warp Drives and Worm Holes. They work on the same principles but function in wholly different ways. General Relativity explains that any mass or energy can bend space and time. Since there is energy everywhere space and time […] Continue reading →

Posted in Physics, Science, Space Travel | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Holes and Wrinkles

The Fermi Paradox

Posted on April 27, 2013 by fathomingthestars

The galaxy is a pretty big place.  With around 400 billion stars, it seems very likely that some of those stars have planets that can support life, that some of those planets have intelligent life, and maybe some of that intelligent life becomes space-faring.  Even if we say the chance of a star having a […] Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens, Space Travel | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Fermi Paradox