posted on Jul, 6 2010 @ 03:09 PM
reply to post by dlifesjrny
Good Question, but one with an easy and definitive answer.
1. Once you have accelerated in a direction, in the absence of gravity, you will continue in that direction, so you have no need for propulsion.
2. If you have a need for a course correction, then it means gravity has acted on your vessel, so you will have the propulsion you need via the
anti-gravity.
3. The Universe is full of Gravity wells. It may be very weak as you traverse vast distances between things, but the Gravity is still there. As per
#1, if you are that far into deep space you have no need for propulsion, your inertia is all you need.
4. In the absence of any other forces, a very small ion generator could accelerate you faster and faster. Each little push, no matter how miniscule
would add velocity. So you could use anti-gravity for primary propulsion, and use a very small ion or conventional propulsion system for acceleration
in deep space to make your trip shorter.
I hypothesize that the speed of light is easily attainable in deep space. Possibly even FTL (faster than light) because the Universe warps around you
per Relativity Theory as you approach FTL. If you used the gravity of the sun to accelerate out of the Solar System, and then you provided a steady
slow thrust, you would continually accelerate to infinity. You may not be able to observe that you are travelling FTL, but you may very well cover
greater distances than expected by conventional vector math, and thus achieve FTL travel.