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SaltyDangerHands t1_j4w365s wrote

Reply to comment by Weed_O_Whirler in Whats stopping us from sending a probe into a black hole if we haven't already? by stealth941

Wonderfully thorough answer.

I decided to check some math, and yeah, our fastest ever spacecraft, rounding up, goes 700,000 kmh. At that speed, it would take 156,000 years to reach the nearest black hole.

I didn't even consider the transmission problem, but yeah, conventional communications are a non-option at a fraction of the distance.

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champybaby t1_j50amrp wrote

What if we put some flaming decals on the spacecraft? In theory, wouldn't that make it go significantly faster?

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SaltyDangerHands t1_j50m9ky wrote

Depends how you align them. Conventional wisdom says to add racing stripes first, then line any flaming decals up with them so that all the speed is focused in the same direction.

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turnturnburn t1_j52c7vd wrote

Decals wouldn't do anything. Painting it red on the other hand... Waaaagh!!

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_HelloMeow t1_j4zcwr3 wrote

This spacecraft is called the Parker Solar Probe, and the reason it's that fast is because of the Sun's gravity. So unfortunately we can build a spacecraft that will go 700.000 km/h wherever we want.

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Abu_mohd t1_j4zyk9a wrote

>unfortunately we can build a spacecraft

I believe this is a typo, s/can/cannot .

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[deleted] t1_j4yt713 wrote

[removed]

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SaltyDangerHands t1_j4z1dgh wrote

I mean, so would artificial wormholes, but we have no idea how to make those either.
Speculative, non-existent technology is not the answer to "why haven't we done this yet". The jury's out on whether or not there's any way to circumvent the speed of light, but if there is, we've no earthly idea how.

Wouldn't the Curvature engine as we currently understand it, the Alcubierre Drive require more energy than the output of the known universe?

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