{"id":24007,"date":"2023-05-08T19:06:13","date_gmt":"2023-05-08T23:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=24007"},"modified":"2023-05-08T19:08:08","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T23:08:08","slug":"episode-816-i-have-rejected-space-travel-consider-voyageurs-1-and-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=24007","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 816 I HAVE REJECTED SPACE TRAVEL: CONSIDER VOYAGEURS 1 AND 2"},"content":{"rendered":"
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EPISODE 825    REJECTING SPACE EXPLORATION<\/p>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
may 6, 2023<\/div>\n

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\"NASA's<\/div>\n
VOYGEURS 1 AND 2 LOOK LIKE THIS<\/div>\n
\"Voyager<\/div>\n
Voyageur 1 and 2 have been moving through space for more than 45 years. Just for fun let\u2019s assume<\/div>\n
you ae a 40 year old astronaut preparing to fly to the outer edge of our solar system and beyond;<\/div>\n
Let\u2019s  assume you boarded Voyageur 1 which was luanched in 1977.  Today Voyageurs 1 and 2 have<\/div>\n
gone beyond the limits of our solar system into the darkness of interstellar space en route to<\/div>\n
a star closest to us called  Alpha Centauri.<\/div>\n

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40 year  astronaut  + 45 year trip to edge of our solar system = 85 year old astronaut<\/div>\n

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Return trip:  85 year old astronaut  + 45 year trip back to earth = 135 year old astronaut <\/div>\n

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\"NASA<\/div>\n
pictures send back to earth<\/div>\n

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I will never be a space explorer.   I have come to accept that fact after careful<\/div>\n
consideration. I even feel sorry for two of our most famous spacecraft.  Voyageur 1<\/div>\n
ans  Voyageur 2 were launcnhed in 1977 as fellow travellers in the exploration <\/div>\n
of the planets of our solar system. only a few scientists expected the space twins to get beyond Jupiter and <\/div>\n
Saturn. <\/div>\n

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Guess  what?  They reached Jupiter in 1979 and then went on to reach Saturn in 1980.  <\/div>\n
They sent  us pictures of both of both planets..   And kept on flying at 17 km\/ second.<\/div>\n
Faster than my truck.  A lot faster than our tractor.   And far faster than most of us will ever travel.<\/div>\n

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In August 2012 they reached the outer limits of our solar system. <\/div>\n

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Now this is where I started thinking  and came to the conclusion I wil never be a spaceman.<\/div>\n
Think about it.   The Voyageur twins had been flying for 35 years they exited our solar system.  <\/div>\n

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NASA assures me that the Voyageur twins trAVel 523 million kilometres a year. <\/div>\n

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And when I consider the prospect of space travel I reject it outright.  Why would I want to speNd 46 years of my life<\/div>\n
flying no where.   If I returned, which is doubtful, I would be 90 years old.  What baseball team would want<\/div>\n
me?  What chance would I have to become an Olympic pole vaulter?  Marriage?   At 90\u201d  You joke.<\/div>\n

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Our nearest solar system is not really near in our terms.  Light-years away.  Light ravels at 186,000 miles per second  ( 300.000.000 meters per second.)<\/div>\n

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Carl Sagan (Cosmos, page 289) says it will take a beam of light from earth about  4 years to reach Alpha Centauri, our nearest star.<\/div>\n
Travelling at 186,000 miles per second.  Then how long would it take the Voyageur Twins to get there travelling at a measly<\/div>\n
slow pace of 17 kilometres per second?   A long long time.  Longer than a human lifetime for sure. With no chance of  a return flight.<\/div>\n

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IMAGINARY VISIT BY A SPACE RECRUTER IN1977<\/div>\n

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RING RING RING!<\/div>\n
\u201cALAN, There is somone a thee door,  didn\u2019t you hear the bell?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhups!   Must stop tYping…answer door\u2026very insistent  person there.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHi?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMr. Skeoch, I have been sent from NASA to see if you would like to be a passenger on Voyageur 1. There is<\/div>\n
just room enough for 1 person.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDid you say you were from NASA?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYes\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWell, take your offer and place it where the sun does not shine.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cBBBBBut!\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAnd  get off  my front porch now.<\/div>\n

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COMMENT<\/div>\n

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Space exploration is perfect place for AI ,,,Alternative Inteligence\u2026..thingamabobs.<\/div>\n

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alan<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE 825    REJECTING SPACE EXPLORATION alan skeoch may 6, 2023 VOYGEURS 1 AND 2 LOOK LIKE THIS Voyageur 1 and 2 have been moving through space for more than 45 years. Just for fun let\u2019s assume you ae a 40 year old astronaut preparing to fly to the outer edge of our solar system […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24007\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}