I imagine you are referring to radiation due to blue shift and collisions
with energetic particles, not just energy for the drive..
Multigeneration ships always bring to mind a story I read years ago - the
occupants of such a ship forgot they are on a ship, and evolve a society and
religions to explain the ship's existence. (No, NOT the Star Trek episode..)
>seems to me the extropians might be the first
>to solve some baffling problems with interstellar travel. we can achieve
>.001 c with current technology. if people are made to live 500 yrs, then
>only a few generations are needed.
I for one find the idea of being trapped on a cruise liner for 500 years
horrifying. The ship would have to be a small planet to provide enough
diversions for that long. I suppose that one could retreat into virtual
reality for some different experiences..
Would advances in cryonics give us the 'long sleep' seen in '2001' and other
science fiction, so that we wake at the destination or in case of some
interesting occurance during the trip?
Chuck Kuecker