From: Eugene Leitl (Eugene.Leitl@lrz.uni-muenchen.de)
Date: Mon Feb 18 2002 - 02:59:34 MST
On Sun, 17 Feb 2002, Spike Jones wrote:
> I too dismissed the article as having too little creative thought. Why
> sperm banks? Better to maintain genetic diversity would be embryo
> banks. They could be maaany generations into the mission before the
Cryogenic storage for embryos would work. Radiation damage would start to
become relevant at some point.
> colony produced any two persons who were genetically related.
>
> Before I take seriously any multigeneration scheme, I want to
> see what they propose for an energy storage mechanism. Chemical
> sources would likely be way insufficient to store adequate
> energy. Fission sources, altho problematic in many ways,
> are likely the most practical for the long haul.
I think they assume the sails to be pushed by apparatus left at home.
Given that you need that much flux to push a sail one should be able to
harvest enough energy from even a few small panels (or one could make a
hybrid solar/photovoltaics sail).
> In comparison to the energy problem, maintaining genetic
> diversity over millenia is trivial.
We all know interstellar travel is for machines strictly. The only way to
travel is be one, preferably a seed in hibernation even.
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