Engineer Proposes Real-Life Star Trek

[Dark Sentinel]

I don't want to sound like a fanboy, but THIS MUST HAPPEN

http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t...7iLBIHYtgeplwE

In Star Trek lore, the first Starship Enterprise will be built by the year 2245. But today, an engineer has proposed — and outlined in meticulous detail – building a full-sized, ion-powered version of the Enterprise complete with 1G of gravity on board, and says it could be done with current technology, within 20 years. “We have the technological reach to build the first generation of the spaceship known as the USS Enterprise – so let’s do it,” writes the curator of the*Build The Enterprise website, who goes by the name of BTE Dan.

This “Gen1” Enterprise could get to Mars in ninety days, to the Moon in three, and “could hop from planet to planet dropping off robotic probes of all sorts en masse – rovers, special-built planes, and satellites.”
*
Complete with conceptual designs, ship specs, a funding schedule, and almost every other imaginable detail, the*BTE website*was launched just this week and covers almost every aspect of how the project could be done. This Enterprise would be built entirely in space, have a rotating gravity section inside of the saucer, and be similar in size with the same look as the USS Enterprise that we know from Star Trek.

“It ends up that this ship configuration is quite functional,” writes BTE Dan, even though his design moves a few parts around for better performance with today’s technology. This version of the Enterprise would be three things in one: a spaceship, a space station, and a spaceport. A thousand people can be on board at once – either as crew members or as adventurous visitors.

While the ship will not travel at warp speed, with an ion propulsion engine powered by a 1.5GW nuclear reactor, it can travel at a constant acceleration so that the ship can easily get to key points of interest in our solar system. Three additional nuclear reactors would create all of the electricity needed for operation of the ship.

The saucer section would be a .3 mile (536 meter) diameter rotating, magnetically-suspended gravity wheel that would create 1G of gravity.

The first assignments for the Enterprise would have the ship serving as a space station and space port, but then go on to missions to the Moon, Mars, Venus, various asteroids and even Europa, where the ships’ laser would be used not for combat but for cutting through the moon’s icy crust to enable a probe to descend to the ocean below.

Of course, like all space ships today, the big “if” for such an ambitious effort would be getting Congress to provide NASA the funding to do a huge 20-year project. But BTE Dan has that all worked out, and between tax increases and spreading out budget cuts to areas like defense, health and human services, housing and urban development, education and energy, the cuts to areas of discretionary spending are not large, and the tax increases could be small. “These changes to spending and taxes will not sink the republic,” says the website. “In fact, these will barely be noticed. It’s amazing that a program as fantastic as the building a fleet of USS Enterprise spaceships can be done with so little impact.”

“The only obstacles to us doing it are the limitations we place on our collective imagination,” BTE Dan adds, and his proposal says that NASA will still receive funding for the science, astronomy and robotic missions it currently undertakes.

But he proposes not just one Enterprise-class ship, but multiple ships, one of which can be built every 33 years – once per generation – giving three new ships per century. “Each will be more advanced than the prior one. Older ships can be continually upgraded over several generations until they are eventually decommissioned.”

BTE Dan, who did not respond to emails, lists himself as a systems engineer and electrical engineer who has worked at a Fortune 500 company for the past 30 years.

The website includes a blog, a forum and a Q&A section, where BTE Dan answers the question, “What if someone can prove that building the Gen1 Enterprise is beyond our technological reach?”

Answer: “If someone can convince me that it is not technically possible (ignoring political and funding issues), then I will state on the BuildTheEnterprise site that I have been found to be wrong. In that case, building the first Enterprise will have to wait for, say, another half century. But I don’t think that anyone will be able to convince me it can’t be done. My position is that we can – and should – immediately start working on it.”

For the complete space nerd experience, check out *Build The Enterprise.

[Optimus_Prime_]

Complete waste of time and money. Also, not quite as feasible as he's making it sound.

[Pink Ranger]

The United States should just pretend to be making it, with faked photos, updates and websites and everything. Then, China will want to beat them to it, and will divert all their resources into making their spaceship first.

Thus, the ship gets built, and the US doesn't have to bankrupt itself doing it.

[Duke]

It sounds like an incredible idea & also very promising, however the powers that be will probably consider it prohibitively expensive, thus ignoring it.

[The Question]

Originally Posted by Optimus_Prime_

Complete waste of time and money. Also, not quite as feasible as he's making it sound.

The planet is reaching a dangerously high population level. Off-world colonization is a way to solve that problem without mass deaths. I wouldn't call it a waste.

[bullets]

I'll be the first to sign up for Starfleet academy.

[Optimus_Prime_]

Originally Posted by The Question

The planet is reaching a dangerously high population level. Off-world colonization is a way to solve that problem without mass deaths. I wouldn't call it a waste.

Off world colonization exists strictly in the realm of science fiction. It's not remotely possible.

[THE MR. TERRIFIC]

Ain't gonna happen

[Cobblepot]

Originally Posted by Optimus_Prime_

Off world colonization exists strictly in the realm of science fiction. It's not remotely possible.

It's possible but it wouldn't offer any solution for our over population problem. You would just send a few thousand people to antoher planet, not nearly enough to make up for all the newborns.

'The UN Population Division prospects an increase of population from 6.512.276.000 (2005) to 6.908.688.000 (2010).

That means a net increase of 396,412,000 people in five years, meaning a net increase of 217,212 people/day or 150 more people/minute.

"

[The Question]

Originally Posted by Optimus_Prime_

Off world colonization exists strictly in the realm of science fiction. It's not remotely possible.

Why?

Originally Posted by Cobblepot

It's possible but it wouldn't offer any solution for our over population problem. You would just send a few thousand people to antoher planet, not nearly enough to make up for all the newborns.

'The UN Population Division prospects an increase of population from 6.512.276.000 (2005) to 6.908.688.000 (2010).

That means a net increase of 396,412,000 people in five years, meaning a net increase of 217,212 people/day or 150 more people/minute.

"

Why would it have to cap at a grew thousand? I mean, yeah, at first, but in the long term you could send out a lot more.

[chamber-music]

I'm more impressed by the Skylon Spaceplane they are working on that has a new type of engine and would be a real affordable rival for space travel.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17864782

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:

Looks a little like the X-Mens Blackbird.

[Optimus_Prime_]

Originally Posted by The Question

Why?

Why? It's a logistical nightmare. Even people in low orbit have all sorts of problems from extended (meaning a few days to a week) stays in space. That aside, it's just not possible to terraform another planet. Sorry. Strictly science fiction. Earth is like Earth because of it's placement in relation to the sun, it's relatively protected from impact/collison events (compared to other planets) and it's ecological history. You can't repeat that kind of detail in any reasonable stretch of time. It'd be a complete waste of money. Nothing on the moon or Mars holds much value, not enough to justify the missions there. There are also logistical problems of how you'd shuttle supplies, and the massive energy expenditure it'd take for repeated trips.
Even though technology is a wonderous thing that has granted us a world your grandfather couldn't have dreamed of, we're still confined by very basic principles. Unlike movies like Star Wars, technology doesn't advance perpetually in a vaccum. There are very real physical limitations, us being Earth formed and Earth specific creatures being one of them, to doing these things.

[CConn]

Depending on the costs, this seems like a good idea purely because it would save NASA from havi to build new ships for every single mission they go on.

If this thing could actually go on multiple missions, and even get people to Mars in 3 months, it'd be way worth it.

[enterthemadness]

Originally Posted by Pink Ranger

Thus, the ship gets built, and the US doesn't have to bankrupt itself doing it.

hate to break it to you, but we are bankrupt. 15.7 Trillion in debt.

[chaseter]

Off world colonies will not happen for hundreds of years from now. We need to worry about fixing our own planet before we start looking at other ones. If your house smells like **** and is falling apart, fix it instead of waiting to find another house to turn to ****.

[CConn]

Originally Posted by enterthemadness

hate to break it to you, but we are bankrupt. 15.7 Trillion in debt.

In debt is different than bankrupt.

[roach]

Originally Posted by Optimus_Prime_

Off world colonization exists strictly in the realm of science fiction. It's not remotely possible.

and at one point so was flying, portable phones, and iPads

[Lone]

He needs to get a Kickstarter going.