Binary Planets Possible if they are Earth Sized

originally posted by: stormbringer1701

alpha proxima, Proxima, or alpha centauri C is .2 light years closer to earth than alpha centauri A. let's go. 42.6 years at ten percent C. let's go!

or at least send a probe. voyager has been travelling for 36+ years. proving our craft can last that long and our human attention span funding and manning of monitors can last that long. let's go!

You are not alone:

From 2011 (before a planet was even detected around Alpha Centauri..... Nature: Planet-hunting pioneer calls for probe to Alpha Centauri

On the back then of these serious policy criticisms came Marcy’s provocative idea for a mission to Alpha Centauri. He appealed to US President Barack Obama to announce the launch of a probe that would send back pictures of any planets, asteroids and comets in the system in the next few hundred years, with the US partnering with Japan, China, India and Europe to make it happen. “It would jolt NASA back to life,” he declared. Maverick it might sound, but many in the room seemed to take the idea in the spirit of focusing minds on the ultimate goal of planet-hunting; to take humanity’s first steps towards reaching out to life elsewhere in the universe.

originally posted by: JadeStar

originally posted by: stormbringer1701

alpha proxima, Proxima, or alpha centauri C is .2 light years closer to earth than alpha centauri A. let's go. 42.6 years at ten percent C. let's go!

or at least send a probe. voyager has been travelling for 36+ years. proving our craft can last that long and our human attention span funding and manning of monitors can last that long. let's go!

You are not alone:

From 2011 (before a planet was even detected around Alpha Centauri..... Nature: Planet-hunting pioneer calls for probe to Alpha Centauri

On the back then of these serious policy criticisms came Marcy’s provocative idea for a mission to Alpha Centauri. He appealed to US President Barack Obama to announce the launch of a probe that would send back pictures of any planets, asteroids and comets in the system in the next few hundred years, with the US partnering with Japan, China, India and Europe to make it happen. “It would jolt NASA back to life,” he declared. Maverick it might sound, but many in the room seemed to take the idea in the spirit of focusing minds on the ultimate goal of planet-hunting; to take humanity’s first steps towards reaching out to life elsewhere in the universe.

the centauri system is a three for the price of one thing. the stars are an average of .2 ly apart. any probe going about .capable of .1c would easily be able to go to all three in one mission.

I don't know why his idea sounds kooky to some. it's an engineering problem mostly. it requires no physics revolutions. it does stretch our technology and organizational skills.

originally posted by: stormbringer1701

originally posted by: JadeStar

originally posted by: stormbringer1701

alpha proxima, Proxima, or alpha centauri C is .2 light years closer to earth than alpha centauri A. let's go. 42.6 years at ten percent C. let's go!

or at least send a probe. voyager has been travelling for 36+ years. proving our craft can last that long and our human attention span funding and manning of monitors can last that long. let's go!

You are not alone:

From 2011 (before a planet was even detected around Alpha Centauri..... Nature: Planet-hunting pioneer calls for probe to Alpha Centauri

On the back then of these serious policy criticisms came Marcy’s provocative idea for a mission to Alpha Centauri. He appealed to US President Barack Obama to announce the launch of a probe that would send back pictures of any planets, asteroids and comets in the system in the next few hundred years, with the US partnering with Japan, China, India and Europe to make it happen. “It would jolt NASA back to life,” he declared. Maverick it might sound, but many in the room seemed to take the idea in the spirit of focusing minds on the ultimate goal of planet-hunting; to take humanity’s first steps towards reaching out to life elsewhere in the universe.

the centauri system is a three for the price of one thing. the stars are an average of .2 ly apart. any probe going about .capable of .1c would easily be able to go to all three in one mission.

I don't know why his idea sounds kooky to some. it's an engineering problem mostly. it requires no physics revolutions. it does stretch our technology and organizational skills.

I agree.

It only sounds kooky because people assume we have to do one thing at a time in some sort of outward expansion and the idea of reaching for the stars without having landed humans on Mars or drilled down into the icy crust of Europa seems far fetched.

I am with you though, we should be doing this. It would be a great international project and would drive technology development in many ways since a long lasting interstellar probe mission which can return useful data will require some very robust technologies.

The same technologies which could very well have spinoffs that advance things on Earth as well.

originally posted by: ManFromEurope
And then build a bridge to that big thing in the sky! Now!

Sorry, engineer here..

The bridge would only work on planets that do not rotate on themselves. Otherwise, the planet's rotation will break the bridge if the bridge is hard, or wind the bridge around the planet if the bridge is elastic.

originally posted by: JadeStar

originally posted by: stormbringer1701

originally posted by: JadeStar

originally posted by: stormbringer1701

alpha proxima, Proxima, or alpha centauri C is .2 light years closer to earth than alpha centauri A. let's go. 42.6 years at ten percent C. let's go!

or at least send a probe. voyager has been travelling for 36+ years. proving our craft can last that long and our human attention span funding and manning of monitors can last that long. let's go!

You are not alone:

From 2011 (before a planet was even detected around Alpha Centauri..... Nature: Planet-hunting pioneer calls for probe to Alpha Centauri

On the back then of these serious policy criticisms came Marcy’s provocative idea for a mission to Alpha Centauri. He appealed to US President Barack Obama to announce the launch of a probe that would send back pictures of any planets, asteroids and comets in the system in the next few hundred years, with the US partnering with Japan, China, India and Europe to make it happen. “It would jolt NASA back to life,” he declared. Maverick it might sound, but many in the room seemed to take the idea in the spirit of focusing minds on the ultimate goal of planet-hunting; to take humanity’s first steps towards reaching out to life elsewhere in the universe.

the centauri system is a three for the price of one thing. the stars are an average of .2 ly apart. any probe going about .capable of .1c would easily be able to go to all three in one mission.

I don't know why his idea sounds kooky to some. it's an engineering problem mostly. it requires no physics revolutions. it does stretch our technology and organizational skills.

I agree.

It only sounds kooky because people assume we have to do one thing at a time in some sort of outward expansion and the idea of reaching for the stars without having landed humans on Mars or drilled down into the icy crust of Europa seems far fetched.

I am with you though, we should be doing this. It would be a great international project and would drive technology development in many ways since a long lasting interstellar probe mission which can return useful data will require some very robust technologies.

The same technologies which could very well have spinoffs that advance things on Earth as well.

i look at it this way too. for example if we really want to colonize Mars or titan or Europa or Ceres or Vesta or triton. we need a way to get there faster. if we do not develop speedy transport permanent colonies particularly any of notable size are not going to happen. so we need something to drive propulsion technology to faster speeds. of course it goes without saying if we are to send probes or people to nearby stars we really need speed. we need closed loop life support with little losses. we need impact shielding techniques. we need radiation shielding for anything manned.

they are related. we need speed if confined to the solar system and we need speed if we dare go to the nearest stars. we need it either way so that is a critical technology we need to develop as fast as possible. We need "manhattan projects" to get this faster than it would naturally develop under our economic and social establishment. Otherwise it may be centuries before we are ready. not because we couldn't do it but because we failed to do it.

a reply to: swanne

Large planets, as close as in this example, would be gravitationally locked and present their faces on each other eternally.