Planetary Highways

[fafalone]

CNN is reporting on a newly discovered complex system of gravitational highways between planets. Using these would significantly reduce the cost of missions to other planets.

The article is a little light on details, so post a comment if you're able to find a more detailed explanation of this.

[Radical Edward]

I did comment on one of the threads, but I figure I may as well here too.

 

<conjecture>

 

this looks to me like nothing more complicated than just being able to accurately model and predict the direction of the pull of gravity and it's time evolution over a large volume. It would be useful for low energy transport and perhaps bizarre looking, but stable orbits (at the very least, semi-stable since they might require a little tqeaking from time to time)

 

I suspect that while low energy, these paths would be very slow.

 

</conjecture>

[dragonstar57]

so it would't work?

[Pangloss]

Wow! Champion bump of the decade, right there.

 

Moved from Politics to Lounge.

[CaptainPanic]

This thread is so old, that the universe must have been significantly (about 99%) smaller when this was created, so are we certain that this highway story is still valid?

 

If I counted correctly, this thread is 8 years, 1 month, 12 days, 1 hour and 8 minutes old when it was suddenly electro-shocked back into existance by cipher510. Nice.

 

*runs down into the basement of SFN to search for even older threads*

Edited September 1, 2010 by CaptainPanic

[insane_alien]

you'll be there a while, those are still on punch cards. for jaquard looms

Edited September 1, 2010 by insane_alien

[CaptainPanic]

you'll be there a while, those are still on punch cards. for jaquard looms

I'll try to post my findings before the end of 2018.

[D H]

so are we certain that this highway story is still valid?

Kinda sorta. The name highway is applicable in the sense that those concrete thingies on which you drive can be called highways at 5:00 PM on Friday during a driving rainstorm. About the only thing that is driving is the rain.

 

A more fitting name for this concept would be the planetary Brigadoon conestoga wagon trail.

• "Brigadoon" because the lanes open up very infrequently. Most of the time, this is like listening to the road closure status on the local radio, only worse. Imagine if instead of working on just a few major interchanges your local friendly highway department authorized work on all interchanges at once. Every once in a rare while the connection from the Crosstown Expressway to the Loop will be open. Most of the time it will be "you can't get there from here."
  
• Conestoga wagon trail is more apt than highway because even if you can get there from here, the journey will take a *long* time using the "planetary superhighway".

 

BTW, good luck in your search for an over older thread to necromance.