RKMBs
Posted By: thedoctor Start studying for Starfleet Academy, Pro. - 2012-05-18 10:35 PM
The man behind the well-researched site buildtheenterprise.org has, and he's determined that a fully functional Enterprise is only 20 years away if we put in the effort. Created by a systems and electrical engineer with 30 years' experience, the BuildTheEnterprise site sets out a very specific timeline for the research and construction of such a massive space-related undertaking. The first nine years are dedicated to research, component testing, and drawing up a number of possible blueprints. The following 11 years are dedicated to development, where components will be manufactured and launched into space for assembly. On year 20, the ship would be ready for a "moon fly by" with full crew and supplies. The plan may seem overly ambitious, but consider that we're already using a number of gadgets that were all but predicted by the Star Trek television series. The estimated cost of building the Enterprise: about $50 billion a year for the next 20 years — $1 trillion in total.
OHMYGODPLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Are we talking TOS Enterpise or TNG Enterprise?
It is our chance to bang some hawt green chicks!
I hope you're ready for the admissions exams.

Tractor Beams
 Quote:
In sci-fi, tractor beams often consist of exotic-sounding particles and energies. In our day and age, using regular ol' light to hold and manipulate objects tractor beam-style is already a reality, albeit on very tiny scales.
Biologists, for example, have used "optical tweezers" to study cells, DNA and other small bits since the late 1980s. "Optical trapping has been around a long time," said Paul Stysley, a laser engineer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
Stysley's organization, among others, would like to see tractor beam-like technologies graduate to bigger tasks. Light could be used, NASA researchers think, to collect large dust particles on Mars or from the tail of a comet with better results than typical contact-based methods.
In theory, continued improvement could someday lead to tractor beams not all that dissimilar to that deployed on the Starship Enterprise. "There seems to be no basic reason why you couldn't have a tractor beam," said Sidney Perkowitz, a physicist at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga.


and fun with pluotinum.
 Quote:
The researchers also suggest the findings may benefit more exotic undertakings, such as power generation for interplanetary exploration...
Posted By: Pariah Re: Start studying for Starfleet Academy, Pro. - 2012-05-21 12:33 AM
I'm gonna piss all over your parade now:

You will not be able to develop warp drive any time soon.

Your mom will not be able to develop warp drive any time soon.
 Originally Posted By: Pariah
I'm gonna piss all over your parade now:

You will not be able to develop warp drive any time soon.



If I'm the one to develop warp drive, there are some motherfuckers at NASA that have a shitload of explaining to do.
it's going to warp drive them nuts!
i forgot to log in to my mcgurk id
it's going to warp drive them nuts!
shit, wrong id again.
In all seriousness, I had no idea that I was supposed to be the one working on this project. Did I miss an email or something?
shut up and just do your job. I want that warp drive on my desk by Friday morning.
I might be a little behind schedule at this point. Here are some preliminary design sketches that I've been working on.

Damn it,SoM,he's a doctor, not an engineer.
he is a doctor of engines!
lothar, on the other hand, is a doctor of cocks.
I am not a urologist.
 Originally Posted By: Lothar of The Hill People
I am not a urologist.


Are you a proctologist?
We could have been to Saturn in the 70's and have had a moon base...

... at the expense of having no functional artificial satellites and more cancer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_%28nuclear_propulsion%29

There's still a chance to send an unmanned ship to another star though (as long as someone is willing to pay up):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Longshot
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