The most important issue that must be solved in space exploration area

What are the most important issues we have now in the space exploration area? As we can see now space explorations are developing very rapidly and doing this, it causes a lot of issues to solve. Humans have a lot of stuff to figure out to get closer to a particular purpose and which one do you consider is the most important and must be solved the first?

Most important things to solve in space exploration are, in my humble opinion:

1. The time it takes to get anywhere
2. The time it takes for signals to travel to, and from somewhere
3. The physiological and psychological effects of human space flight
4. The cost

a reply to: paraphi

Solve number one and the rest will follow?

a reply to: james00

Well, I guess it depends on what you mean by 'closer to a specific purpose'. What 'purpose' are you referring to?

Presumably you are referring to human spaceflight, and human spaceflight breaks down into two basic broad categories; orbital spaceflight (around Earth), and interplanetary spaceflight.

Personally, for near Earth orbital spaceflight, I see two primary challenge areas, a.) cheaper, lighter, faster, and b.) cleaning up space junk (maybe the other way around). I don't think people realize how much of a real challenge the issue of debris in Earth orbit really is, and it's getting worse. If we don't start getting serious about addressing the space junk issue it's not going to be long before mankind is trapped on Earth with no hope of reaching orbit ever again. It's expensive, it's a logistics nightmare and it has very little return on investment (now), so people ignore it and hope it goes away. It won't. The future of spaceflight (at all) depends on coming up with viable solutions for dealing with this problem. Ironically, this mission is so dangerous it likely will never be carried out by manned spacecraft, but still it has a direct and immediate impact on manned spaceflight in the future.

Regarding interplanetary manned spaceflight, I really question the value of it at all. Autonomous vehicles are fine for scientific purposes, but manned spaceflight to other planets is of dubious value. Oh sure, it's got a 'cool factor' associated with it, and there's the accomplishment aspect of it, but beyond that what? Humans are not well adapted for extended duration space travel, it's just too hostile of an environment for a variety of reasons. The notion that humans will meaningfully colonize another planet someday is just not really realistic. The notion that large segments of Earth's population will emigrate to another planet is almost laughable.

I do believe man will indeed go to Mars in the not too distant future, but that will be it. We'll do it once or twice, but we Earthlings will quickly learn our lesson about the futilities of years in space (or on another planet) and that will be the end of it. I also believe getting really good at going to and from the Moon would be a far better investment. From the Moon mankind might have a prayer of establishing some kind of a platform from which some more serious manned space exploration could conceivably take place. Going straight for Mars first is a giant mistake, in my humble opinion. But hey, as long as it's not tax dollars funding it, more power to 'em.

Lastly, a quick word about interstellar space travel. Never gonna' happen. So, we humans can just cross that one off the list right now. And, if someone were to ask what challenges we need to solve to do this, I would say our efforts need to be focused on the medical profession rather than space issues. In order for interstellar space travel to be a reality mankind will first need to figure out how to disassemble the human form (completely), down to an atomic level, and then successfully reconstruct that form in a different place. Even then, the benefit of long distance travel like this will only be of value to the traveler, not to Earth. Relativity and the laws of physics dictate this. It's a painful reality, but it is none the less a reality.

That's kinda' my .02 on the matter.

1 - How to break the speed of light barrier.
2 - How to safely travel faster than the speed of light.
3 - Bosh?

originally posted by: FinallyAwake
1 - How to break the speed of light barrier.
2 - How to safely travel faster than the speed of light.

Nothing with any mass is ever going to travel faster than the speed of light. In fact, nothing with any mass is ever going to even reach the speed of light. At the speed of light, mass goes to infinity and the amount of energy required to accelerate it to this velocity also goes to infinity.

Now, it's conceivable that an object with mass might move between two points and "appear" to travel faster than light, but the actual velocity of this object will never equal or exceed the speed of light. And, what would actually happen to that object during the trip is unclear. It would likely have forces exerted upon it which are beyond anything we can comprehend. Consequently, designing such an object would be near-impossible because we would likely never know what happened to the object after it left one of the points, or what forces it was subjected to, in order to design a more capable object in the future.

Relativity is a b*tch!

a reply to: james00

We require a way to circumvent the speed of light or move between two points of distance in something other than a straight line.

To explore the universe in a meaningful manner we require a further understanding of space-time to do anything other than map and hop around our own star system.

a reply to: andy06shake

The journey itself will actually be a generally straight line (kinda' sorta'), but it will need to cut across a curved space line. Kind of like cutting a horizontal slice out of a parabola or some other irregular arced shape.

Last time I checked the Voyager 1 spacecraft will take another 30,000 years to exit our solar system proper. It's gonna' be a while before we're exploring any other star systems. I will be nearing retirement age then, and 3,000 generations of you humans will be taking a the big dirt nap. And that is just to get to the edge of our solar system. Then it's another few quick light years to get to the next nearest start.

Fun trivia factoid - Voyager 1 is the furthest manmade object from Earth, and in it's 49 years in space speeding away from earth at 35,000 mph it has only traveled .2% of one light year. If it was headed toward the nearest star to Earth it would take about 75,000 years to make it there.

With present technology it is a problem even getting to Mars. Those who stay on the space station get enough radiation to equal 10 chest X-rays a day. Bone loss is about 1% per month without intervention.

Faster than light travel is real if you believe in UAPs or UFOs.... if not faster than light then Interdimensional travel seems to be a possibility. Whatever is happening is beyond our understanding or imagination.. Shucks !

I`d like to say that we`ve got a huge issue with space junk. The big number of space junk can damage expensive spacecrafts The growing number of space items can lead to the state where the object density is so high that one collision is enough to generate a cascade effect, leading to further collisions. the growing number of space items can lead to what is known as the ‘Kessler syndrome’, which represents a state where the object density is so high that one collision is enough to generate a cascade effect, leading to further collisions.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I think they just re-established contact with Voyager 1(might have been 2) not that long ago, amazing piece of equipment really, launched 2 years after i was born.

I was alluding more towards the possibility of traveling through wormholes with my "move between two points of distance in something other than a straight line" rhetoric.

It would require us to create huge amounts of gravitational energy all the same which as you probably know is something we don't yet know how to do.

We will probably both be long gone before humanity ever manages to devise a viable method to visit the stars but its nice to spitball the possibilities all the same.

a reply to: james00

Another issue of concern is the fact that human beings in there present condition, simply are not equipped, nor have evolved to exist anywhere other than in a very specific gravitational, atmospheric, and pressure envelope, that is our island Earth.

If we ever wish to survive the rigours of deep space travel, or on other worlds with different conditions, we are going to have to modify ourselves via genetic engineering and possibly cybernetic implants.

a reply to: 727Sky

...interdenominational travel...

I know what you meant, but that's pretty funny right there! Is that like when you switch religions while traveling in space??

LOL!!

Anyway, I agree.

a reply to: james00

1. Orbital debris!

a reply to: james00

There's some debate about whether a Kessler type event could occur, but yes, space junk is a huge issue.

And, when we talk of challenges, collecting this space junk up is a mammoth undertaking. This is especially true when you consider it is all moving in different directions at different velocities, and in space you can only really go one general direction. So, you can grab some space junk going in that same general direction, but to grab some other space junk going in a different general direction you have to launch a new mission into a different orbit.

It's a real problem.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk

originally posted by: FinallyAwake
1 - How to break the speed of light barrier.
2 - How to safely travel faster than the speed of light.

Nothing with any mass is ever going to travel faster than the speed of light. In fact, nothing with any mass is ever going to even reach the speed of light. At the speed of light, mass goes to infinity and the amount of energy required to accelerate it to this velocity also goes to infinity.

Now, it's conceivable that an object with mass might move between two points and "appear" to travel faster than light, but the actual velocity of this object will never equal or exceed the speed of light. And, what would actually happen to that object during the trip is unclear. It would likely have forces exerted upon it which are beyond anything we can comprehend. Consequently, designing such an object would be near-impossible because we would likely never know what happened to the object after it left one of the points, or what forces it was subjected to, in order to design a more capable object in the future.

Relativity is a b*tch!

Lol 😂 it is!
Thanks for this, I guess I was thinking more worm holes etc. I should have known nothing can go faster than light, yet

a reply to: FinallyAwake

The worm hole example was actually what I was referring to when I said something could conceivably "appear" to travel faster than light. A worm hole or similar phenomenon could theoretically produce an effect such as this. All just speculation though at this point.

a reply to: james00

1, the effects of zero gravity on the human body.
2, radiation
3, food and water

Humans aren't going anywhere.

Some have mentioned speed but even if we manage to go half a million mph, just imagine hitting a rock the side of a marble at that speed.
The explosion from the kinetic energy would vaporize the spaceship.

Transhumanism solves the physiological issues but does nothing to address the actual amount of time it will take.

The purpose and cost
Who really cares outside of a few pretty pictures and mining rights
Few things we need to focus on right here on terra