Bigwig just doesn't get it:
[W]hen you have an FTL drive, who cares who the President is?
Think, man. Think. What kind of regulatory environment do you want in place after the aliens grant you your faster-than-light spacecraft? I can see the ad campaign now:
.000055C Saves Lives
Sure, you'd still be screaming along at 37,000 MPH. But how long would it take to get to Alpha Centauri at that rate?
Posted by Phil at December 16, 2003 06:42 AM | TrackBackGiven the sad state of our current space technologies, you don't need an FTL drive. A large solar array (doable, but expensive), a zero-reaction mass drive: mag sail (see Zubrin, untested) or solar sail (Go Planetary Society!), and a decent closed loop life support system (may be possible, hasn't been fully proven yet). Oh, and some simple mining and processing equipment so you can replace the inevitable losses from C-type asteroids or comets.
Head out to the asteroid belt and kiss Earth politics goodbye for years, decades or possibly even centuries.
I'd be willing to risk it even with todays technologies.
Posted by: Andrew Salamon at December 16, 2003 09:32 AMWhat kind of regulatory environment do you want in place after the aliens grant you your faster-than-light spacecraft?
None!
I'm with you Andrew.
Posted by: Virginia at December 16, 2003 10:09 AMSheesh, what a bunch of anarchists! :-)
Posted by: Phil at December 16, 2003 01:29 PM