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It's real -- but just at the brain-storming level. It will be at least another 10 or 20 years before anybody starts to build anything. Interesting that the symposium is next to Micky Mouse land.
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October is approaching. This is the time of year when science research budgets are allocated. Some people do try to oversell their ideas in order to increase their chance to have some funding. This looks like a case of that.
I am sure that lots of people at NASA (and elsewhere) are dreaming about a project to build a spaceship that could go to exoplanets. However, we are far from being able to send something that would be fast enough to make it worthwhile.
However, developing newer types of engines is a necessary first step and this sounds like someone describing a project to develop such an engine (a non-combustion engine). There are many such projects like that, even within NASA... except that theya re not well funded.
This guy is just overselling his own idea.
Presently (using the engines we do have) it would take gazillion years to get anywhere.
However, just do the math with a vehicle that could have a constant acceleration (net, relative to the Sun) of 0.01 m/s^2 -- which is 1/1000 Earth's gravity.
After 1 second, the speed has increased by 1 m/s
After one month (30 days of 86,400 seconds) the speed has reached 25.9 km/s (kilometres per second!)
After one year (Gregorian, 365.2425 days) = over 315 km/s
using the Newtonian formula
dist. = (1/2) a t^2
distance = (1/2) 0.01 m/s^2 (Gregorian year)^2 = almost 5 billion kilometres (or 5 milliard kilometres if you prefer the Long Count protocole for naming numbers)
If the acceleration continues at this rate, it takes 43 years to cover the first light-year. Remembering that distance increases as the SQUARE of time, after 86 years, the vehicle is 4 light-years away (closest star).
After 129 years, it has reached 9 light-years (passed Sirius).
After 172 years, it will be 16 light-years away (there are 45 star systems within that distance - not all in the same direction, of course).
Now we (the short-attention-span civilization) might not be interested in such a project that takes more than 13 weeks to complete (one TV series), but others could be.
I am sure that lots of people at NASA (and elsewhere) are dreaming about a project to build a spaceship that could go to exoplanets. However, we are far from being able to send something that would be fast enough to make it worthwhile.
However, developing newer types of engines is a necessary first step and this sounds like someone describing a project to develop such an engine (a non-combustion engine). There are many such projects like that, even within NASA... except that theya re not well funded.
This guy is just overselling his own idea.
Presently (using the engines we do have) it would take gazillion years to get anywhere.
However, just do the math with a vehicle that could have a constant acceleration (net, relative to the Sun) of 0.01 m/s^2 -- which is 1/1000 Earth's gravity.
After 1 second, the speed has increased by 1 m/s
After one month (30 days of 86,400 seconds) the speed has reached 25.9 km/s (kilometres per second!)
After one year (Gregorian, 365.2425 days) = over 315 km/s
using the Newtonian formula
dist. = (1/2) a t^2
distance = (1/2) 0.01 m/s^2 (Gregorian year)^2 = almost 5 billion kilometres (or 5 milliard kilometres if you prefer the Long Count protocole for naming numbers)
If the acceleration continues at this rate, it takes 43 years to cover the first light-year. Remembering that distance increases as the SQUARE of time, after 86 years, the vehicle is 4 light-years away (closest star).
After 129 years, it has reached 9 light-years (passed Sirius).
After 172 years, it will be 16 light-years away (there are 45 star systems within that distance - not all in the same direction, of course).
Now we (the short-attention-span civilization) might not be interested in such a project that takes more than 13 weeks to complete (one TV series), but others could be.
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This is about interplanetary travel. However, i can't see it happening because i've seen so many disappointments since 1969 that i just can't believe anything like this could ever come to pass even if the intentions are there.