Finding habitable worlds with the new generation of space telescopes

I am starting to get very excited about the next generation of space telescopes that NASA is going to deploy. They will enable the direct and indirect observation of earthlike planets in orbit around nearby stars. This could mean a whole new picutre of the universe, something that mankind has never had before.

I think it might be in the best interests of NASA to emphasize the building of these telescopes, in order to give us a destination in which a really large scale manned project might lead. We need to make the jump to "lightspeed", if you will.

We need faster engines, better spacecraft, and a space elevator. Then we will finally be free of our limitation of gravity. Just imagine if we could find a water world around Tau Ceti, or even Alpha Centauri! It would stimulate a huge effort to get into the far reaches of space.

We have all the parts we need, with new technolgies like the Hutchingson effect and the ability to build a space elevator, we might finally get off the rock. All we need is a brave enough generation to venture out and build it. Imagine the great leaps our civilzation would make, the fresh new worlds where mankind would again be able to breath free.

Is a great big hand going to come smash us? I doubt it. There is nothing going to prevent us from making it up there, and what an exciting time to see. If we can get a ship to go almost as fast as light, then the pssengers of the ship will get there really fast according to their time. Remember the quirkiness of special relativity, time dialation works in favor of the space traveller. It may take 4 years to get to Alpha Centauri for us back home, but the traveller gets there in a fraction of the apparent time. So much for the fear of really long journies. We just need a ship big enough to go. That's where the space elevator comes in. Nanofibers and filaments are already developed that can do it.

Lets get building, before the unwashed come and wreck the temple.

Arky

if they only would spent the war-money on space exploration....

could you provide some good links to the technology you speak of?

Quinn

First thing we need to do is build space colonies to solve the population problem THEN Go explore the unkown.

I agree, we get so upset at the idea of losing hubble, we forget that the next generation of space telescopes will blow it away.

Originally posted by coronamoz
could you provide some good links to the technology you speak of?

tell that to bush. it's so sad we would rather spend money killing each other then to explore the unknown and benefit all mankind

arkaleus, do you have a source from NASA about the telescope? it would certainly be very cool to see close up of other planets

Originally posted by 2009

tell that to bush. it's so sad we would rather spend money killing each other then to explore the unknown and benefit all mankind

arkaleus, do you have a source from NASA about the telescope? it would certainly be very cool to see close up of other planets

One good thing about Bush at least he stated that man should return to the Moon and then to Mars

As for the telescope I think I have seen plans on how they are going to do it somewhere. The jist of it was that it was going to be a deep space array of telescopes hooked up to each other to make a super telescope. I will try to find the info again

Originally posted by ShadowXIX
The jist of it was that it was going to be a deep space array of telescopes hooked up to each other to make a super telescope. I will try to find the info again

Yeah, these planet finder telescopes would use same principle as VLA radio telescope or ESO's VLT.


www.jpl.nasa.gov...
planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov...
planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov...

But don't expect any close ups soon.

[edit on 1-8-2004 by E_T]

Originally posted by Arkaleus
Lets get building, before the unwashed come and wreck the temple.

I agree.
Don't you wish if everybody else was thinking like you then we could really make a difference and make a huge jump in space exploration. However, the sad part is not many people think like that.

Good job finding the info E_T I was having trouble finding it I cant wait for the day we get a picture of a small blue planet. To see another earth out there would be a great sight and a great day for all of mankind.

what we need to do is unite as a race, not as different countries competing to work together for space exploration. imagine if all the geniuses from russia, china, us, etc got together to work on it...

Originally posted by prevx
what we need to do is unite as a race, not as different countries competing to work together for space exploration. imagine if all the geniuses from russia, china, us, etc got together to work on it...

not going to happen in our lifetime, we still have way too much petty selfish differences

Originally posted by ShadowXIX
Good job finding the info E_T I was having trouble finding it

I cant wait for the day we get a picture of a small blue planet.

It takes long time and huge space interferometers to see surface details from exo-planets.

It's not that hard. We don't even need to resolve surface details, which would requie a gigantic telescope in deep space.

All we need to do is find the spectral signature of water from a world, and infer from the distance to the star if that water is in liquid form. If we do, then we send a interstellar probe to that system and take close up shots. If we find a world suitable for colonization, that's where it will begin.

Water is the key, and wherever it is in liquid form, human life can thrive.

Even a lack of oxygen is not much of a problem as a lack of pressure would be. Oxygen can be generated quite easily from water. Pressure problems would create an infastructure problem and would be a pain in the butt to live in. The good thing about liquid water worlds is that I would expect their surface pressures to be great enough to support our bodies.

Arkaleus

in the past 12 years ive watched so many great scientific missions get cut, cancled, loose funding, and simply fall through i wouldnt get my hopes up.
I am an astronomer and by god i would love to see a large scope in space that could image exoplanets. BY GOD ID LIKE TO SEE THE ISS FINNISHED!!! iv enoticed that people are riping on Bush and his influence of teh spaceagency
have we forgoten Columbia? the shuttle blew up in his fisrt year of his first term NASA was on lock for months they still havent launced another shuttle! its not all bush's fault. any way the ISS was to be completed some time in late 1990's and who was in office then? clintion so please dont rip on bush and the space agency we really did have more important things this time around.

but back to the point of this topic
we need to start by moving industy of the planet. if we can begin to move mining opperations to asteroids, energy production to orbitong satelites that beam it down by microwave to desert stations, and simply just basic industry. we can slowly transform earth to a clean residental park and then move out. in the 60's it was predicted that Christmas 2000 would be celebrated by people on spcae colonies in orbit people on colonies on the moon and a few scientist on mars. its 2004 and we dont even have a fully opperating space station. But i think now that space ship one can make it to space comerical development will begin. Becasue if they get endorsed by say Hilton and they get a "hotel" up there for "cheap" prices then space exploration will skyrocket. its all about MONEY! i hate that so much peoples own ingnoranc denys them what they want ever notice that but when you put mone in it it seems to go round like clock work. I HATE THAT! DAM MONEY AND DAM INGNORANCE!

We can�t actually build the space elevator yet. We need to be able to spin a nano-thread of a specific tensile strength, which we have not done. Once we can spin carbon-fiber tubes with that strength then a space elevator is a simple matter of logistics.

It is an exciting time though!

I just can't wait for the new Technology that will take us into a new Era in 20 years. I just wish I could have been born a few generations from now just to see the Technology then and the Space Exploration taken. The good, and sometimes, bad about our race is we see no Limitations. It says it can't be conquered, we conquer it.

I just hope Private Enterpises, like discussed in another thread, take place. That's the only way space ventures will begin. Too much paper work and paper work for Government, and too much cost. I hope we find the worlds that are similiar to us to let us live on it. I just wish I was the Generation able to watch it.

I'm all for the Space elevator but talk about a HUGE terrorist target, the security alone would cost hundreds of millions.

People from different counrties are not going to just hold hands and sing songs and unite. Because they all think differently. I think its in human nature to have an enemy, so unless we find a hostile alien race to fight, we will continue are technology and skills by fighting eachother. I dont want humans to ever be a peacefull race.

People blame far to much on Bush, when he WANTS to get Nasa beyond LEO. He has had the most disasters to deal with, more then any previous president. (Terrorism 9-11 /Columbia/Hurricanes) - Kerry lost, and some of you need to except that.

Mizar - People thought that back in the 60's because they were at the fore front of the first technological boom, So they were just wrapped up with enthusiasm in hopes that the future will be perfect.
As for the money suckin ISS, I hope that we stick with our comitment on finish building it, BUT I doubt that it will be 100% finished, theres allready talk about scrapping a few of the compartments, which BTW they would HAVE to do if they are still shooting for the 2010 shuttle retire date.

RabidGoose
I just hope Private Enterpises, like discussed in another thread, take place. That's the only way space ventures will begin. Too much paper work and paper work for Government, and too much cost. I hope we find the worlds that are similiar to us to let us live on it. I just wish I was the Generation able to watch it.

In many ways you are. You live in the time where commercialization of space began. You kinda think like me, I wish though that I lived in a few hundred years because by that time humans can live forever, i'm of course referring to natural reasons (IE: falling off a building in 300 years will still kill ya). As much as i'd like to live in a time where space was common place, I kinda like living in the time where its just starting.

Ya, I'll have to agree with you. Sometimes it's better to watch the start up then the actual action. Because you're with the Generation that slapped the horse on the butt and got it running. But I'd still love to see it in full motion.