Closest Habitable Exosolar Planet Ever Discovered

[San Lumen]

It was just announced today that the closest exosolar planet ever has been found around the star Proxima Centauri. The planet is rocky, potentially habitable and likely has an atmosphere of some sort. For those who don't know its the closest star to the Sun at a distance of about 4.25 light years. The existence of a planet around this star has been speculated for decades but now there is definitive proof. The star is a red dwarf and the habitably of these stars has been subject to much debate.

One thing that works in their favor of their being life is they last very very long, Trillions of years in fact. However one drawback is the the habitability zone (the area where liquid water can exist) is very close to the star so its likely the planet would be tidally locked. This means one side would always face away from the star and the other towards it causing temperature extremes. However with a thick enough atmosphere this problem could be avoided. Proxima Centuari is also a flare star which means it undergoes extreme changes in brightness and very large solar flares which might be hostile to life but again this could be alleviated by a thick atmosphere.

Plus due to its closeness a probe could be sent sometime in the future.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/24/health/pr ... hbor-star/

What say you NSG? What's your reaction to this momentous discovery?

[New confederate ramenia]

It's mine since I'm first. Seriously though, we probably won't be able to colonize it or anything in the near future, but I hope we can at least study it and learn some new things.

[San Lumen]

It's mine since I'm first. Seriously though, we probably won't be able to colonize it or anything in the near future, but I hope we can at least study it and learn some new things.

Im afraid the Outer Space Treaty signed by 104 countries says you cannot do that. Its probable we won't be able to visit in the near future but its not out of the question we could visit within a few decades given its only a little over 4 light years away.

[New confederate ramenia]

It's mine since I'm first. Seriously though, we probably won't be able to colonize it or anything in the near future, but I hope we can at least study it and learn some new things.

Im afraid the Outer Space Treaty signed by 104 countries says you cannot do that. Its probable we won't be able to visit in the near future but its not out of the question we could visit within a few decades given its only a little over 4 light years away.

Ok but you would still need to go really fast to go there and it would take a really long time.

[Neutraligon]

It's mine since I'm first. Seriously though, we probably won't be able to colonize it or anything in the near future, but I hope we can at least study it and learn some new things.

Im afraid the Outer Space Treaty signed by 104 countries says you cannot do that. Its probable we won't be able to visit in the near future but its not out of the question we could visit within a few decades given its only a little over 4 light years away.

What do you mean we can visit? How fast is our fastest manned space ship? If you mean probes, we might be able to see it, but visit?

[The Liberated Territories]

Thats interesting, but of little practical use for us. I would rather establish bases on Mars and the Moon before tromping outside the solar system.

[Azamia]

Now, would the best time to devote finding negative energy, for a ship that can travel via Alcubierre drive (hopefully it doesn't destroy solar systems).

[Nariterrr]

Wow, I'm at a lost for words. I really don't know what to say.

[New haven america]

It's mine since I'm first. Seriously though, we probably won't be able to colonize it or anything in the near future, but I hope we can at least study it and learn some new things.

Im afraid the Outer Space Treaty signed by 104 countries says you cannot do that. Its probable we won't be able to visit in the near future but its not out of the question we could visit within a few decades given its only a little over 4 light years away.

With the fastest man-made space probe we currently have, it would take 18,000-30,000 thousand years to enter the Alpha Centauri star system.

[Greater Orensta]

to space....




TO FUCKING SPACE

[Arkiasis]

Mars is also a "potentially habitable" planet by their definition. Within a stars habitable zone and of a certain size. More likely than not, it's just another rocky planet.

[Neutraligon]

Im afraid the Outer Space Treaty signed by 104 countries says you cannot do that. Its probable we won't be able to visit in the near future but its not out of the question we could visit within a few decades given its only a little over 4 light years away.

With the fastest man-made space probe we currently have, it would take 18,000-30,000 thousand years to enter the Alpha Centauri star system.

That...will be a problem.

[Tsaraine]

Im afraid the Outer Space Treaty signed by 104 countries says you cannot do that. Its probable we won't be able to visit in the near future but its not out of the question we could visit within a few decades given its only a little over 4 light years away.

With the fastest man-made space probe we currently have, it would take 18,000-30,000 thousand years to enter the Alpha Centauri star system.

This is true; but with the fastest spacecraft we can currently build, it'd take a couple of decades.

But there are inherent problems with Orion drives, not least being governments don't like giving up shit-tons of weaponized plutonium (NASA currently has a critical plutonium shortage for RTGs).

There's also the problem of building a spacecraft AI capable of operating entirely on its own - because with a lag of eight and a half years, there's no way we could control it remotely.

And then there's the "habitable" thing; yes, this world could theoretically have liquid water on its surface. But you know what other worlds we know are also within their star's habitable zone? Mars and Venus.

[Quokkastan]

Just don't piss off the fungus.

[Tsaraine]

Just don't piss off the fungus.

Chiron orbits Alpha Centauri A.

[The East Marches]

Mass Effect IRL when?

[Risottia]

Im afraid the Outer Space Treaty signed by 104 countries says you cannot do that. Its probable we won't be able to visit in the near future but its not out of the question we could visit within a few decades given its only a little over 4 light years away.

What do you mean we can visit? How fast is our fastest manned space ship? If you mean probes, we might be able to see it, but visit?

I insist: the only way of performing human interstellar travel is generational ships so far.

[Vassenor]

Didn't we already have a thread for this?

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=387081

[Alvecia]

It always makes me laugh to consider a manned mission that would take generations getting halfway there only to be caught up to by the ship we built in the time since

[Japan and Pacific States]

Bugger everything, put me on ice and send me there. I'd certainly like to be there over being here when civilisation collapses on the weight of it's own hypocrisy and political correctness.

[The Blaatschapen]

What do you mean we can visit? How fast is our fastest manned space ship? If you mean probes, we might be able to see it, but visit?

I insist: the only way of performing human interstellar travel is generational ships so far.

How about freezing lots of embryos. And have the spaceship 'unmanned' until it is on the final destination.

Get some artifical wombs.

Have the toddlers being taken care of by robots (with sufficient AI).

Yes, most of this technology is not there (yet), but it would beat having generations of humans living on a huge spaceship. For which the needed technology is also not there yet.

[Dumb Ideologies]

I can just imagine the colony ship finally arriving after generations of travel only to get shot down by sentient badgers.

[San Lumen]

With the fastest man-made space probe we currently have, it would take 18,000-30,000 thousand years to enter the Alpha Centauri star system.

That...will be a problem.

Well if you could build a spacecraft that could travel at only 20 percent the speed of light you could probably reach the star in about 25 years or so.

[The Blaatschapen]

That...will be a problem.

Well if you could build a spacecraft that could travel at only 20 percent the speed of light you could probably reach the star in about 25 years or so.

'only 20% of the speed of light'.

40 km / second is currently the fastest macroscopic manmade object (Juno mission spacecraft).

That's several magnitudes lower than 20% of c.

It will be a while before we'll even get near it.

[Vassenor]

That...will be a problem.

Well if you could build a spacecraft that could travel at only 20 percent the speed of light you could probably reach the star in about 25 years or so.

At what point does relativity kick in?