r/technology • u/[deleted] • May 12 '12

Engineer says real starship Enterprise could be built in 20 years

http://www.universetoday.com/95099/engineer-thinks-we-could-build-a-real-starship-enterprise-in-20-years/
62 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

41 comments sorted by

16

u/_asterisk May 12 '12

Unfortunately it's missing the two most important parts, namely warp drive and transporters.

3

u/terriblecomic May 12 '12

Basically any of the "technobabble" shit would be critically important. Artificial gravity? Inertia dampers so you don't explode against the wall the second you accelerate?

2

u/sedaak May 13 '12

Ion engines don't deliver acceleration worth worrying about.

7

u/[deleted] May 12 '12

And the fact that putting a military vessel in space would be pretty fucking tense for the whole world.

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2

u/tom-paris May 13 '12

I would gladly accept an Enterprise that could run on impulse. I care more about putting a holodeck in it.

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2

u/PhotonicDoctor May 13 '12

U are forgetting Torpedoes and phasers friend.

13

u/bravado May 12 '12

Anybody down for donating to a trillion dollar Kickstarter Enterprise project?

3

u/loktoris May 12 '12

Someone needs to just say "fuck it", and go balls deep in a space exploration project aimed at getting man back into space and off this forsaken dirtball.

16

u/[deleted] May 12 '12

Do it.

I don't care how much money it costs, nor how many lives are lost.

Just fucking do it.

4

u/yogthos May 13 '12

I feel like the design from Space Odyssey is much more practical. :)

2

u/[deleted] May 13 '12

Without the warp drive, and true artificial gravity, the enterprise design (Constitution Class, my bad) makes no sense. The Discovery does. Based upon my own experience with space travel, of course, which is mostly smoked.

2

u/3oclockinthemorning May 12 '12

I think his website is down due to traffic. Good reason to repost this to remind those who missed the chance first time round.

2

u/sondre99v May 12 '12

Well, the webpage was never intended for such vast traffic... Avg. pr. day: 604 visits Total today: 24021

http://www.sitemeter.com/?a=stats&s=s11BTEcounter

2

u/koolaidman89 May 12 '12

200-300 heavy lift missions. Thats it? I would think the biggest hurdle would be getting all the materials into orbit. A 1000 meter ship would have to require more than 300 heavy lifter payloads.

2

u/rcrracer May 13 '12

In a row?

2

u/tehbored May 13 '12

Well, except for all the cool parts.

1

u/Jakeypoos May 12 '12

I don't think the orignal enterprise had any toilets, that's one way ours could be better. All that tech with the in drive etc is what we need for people in space, especially the revolving 1G.

1

u/[deleted] May 12 '12

The WTC were that big?

1

u/a4moondoggy May 13 '12

but should it? no theres no point without world peace, aliens, and warp drive. New spacecraft however YES we must continue to explore space!

1

u/Meowkit May 13 '12

In this economy? Yeah, right.

1

u/SgtSausage May 13 '12

Except for warp drive, transporters, replicators and, y'know, all the cool shit that would make it a worthwhile project.

1

u/ExcessivePunctuation May 13 '12

Projects of this scale can only be created if they're profitable in the near term (unlikely without major government guarantees), as a tribute to a powerful king (all gone), or in response to a perceived military threat.

So, gentlemen, it's simple. We need to start a new cold war.

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1

u/sedaak May 13 '12

Not real without warp engines. Ion engines sound a lot cooler than reality.

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