
Originally Posted by
Adirondack-Bob
I've always thought this was a Lost In Space type idea. I've never seen anything written on the ethical considerations of this idea. i.e. Do we have the right to condemn future generations to live their entire lives on this spaceship? Would this require some kind of brainwashing program to keep future offspring dedicated to the mission? This would make a good movie plot.
Thinking of a movieplot along these lines and pillaging a bit from life and 'Prometheus'.
Spreading the human race across the cosmos is simply an exercise in patience and time. We do not actually need to solve 'abiogenesis' or significantly ramp up technologies to speed up travel before we entertain such a mission of terraforming our travel route through the cosmos. Just good old evolutionary theory and the knowledge of planetary conditions that could support a carbon based 'tree of life' to emerge.
Let's consider a move to use 'reverse panspermia' with our knowledge of the stars, gravitational slinshots and protective spores to spread the seed of life through the Milky Way and then the cosmos. The quest being that given enough time and setting in train deliberate mechanisms to creating habitable systems in our cosmos that what we really are creating is possible habitation posts along a path of cosmological colonisation. The tyrrany of exploration are the risks of travel associated with 'not knowing' your ultimate destination, what lies in wait at your destination, the journey itself where you are reliant on the supplies you have on board your ship etc. What this approach would do would be to hopefully reduce the risks of travel and at the same time provide 'designed' habitation points to at least give the human race a chance if they stuff this planet up too much. Sure, you might say, what about the universal inhabitants? How would they feel about us spreading ourselves across the cosmos like a virus?.....good point....but I say stuff 'em all. If they raise concern, then just nuke 'em from orbit /TIC
Let's 'artificially create complexes that mimic a meteor that are teeming with robust microscoping lifeforms (that come from a wide variety of extreme niches eg. thermophiles etc.). With nanotechnology, let's impregnate these lifeforms with tracking detection technologies that ideally are powered through the biochemistry of the organism itself. Furthermore incorporate technologies into the genome that trigger notifications upon mitosis/meiosis events (the notification that possible habitation is commencing). Better still, let's see if we can mimic replication with these technologies themselves so they can follow the progeny as well. Let's then bundle these lifeforms up into packages encapsulated in extremely durable and heat resistant spores and include technologies that register impact events which trigger spore 'disintegration' to spew the contents around upon impact.
Then lets assemble these complexes up in space stations and then shoot them off into the cosmos using our knowledge of travel trajectories and ways to accelerate speeds using gravitational slingshots......then we just use our monitoring technologies and wait and listen.
When we receive notification of our first successfuly colonised 'way point' then work out the calcs of distance and the length of time and method to send our best transport devices to this 'way point'. We might find that it is still to far and may require multiple generations to reach this way point. Ok, then send now we send Jim and his family and relatives on their way as he was always the most unpopular at school but he did like gardening....but just also give consideration, if you like Jim, to possibly determining other potential locations along the way that we may be able to easily terraform to make life a bit more easier for him and his ilk. You might want to invest a bit of time and effort here as maybe I just don't like Jim. You can always decide at a later date to send one of Jim's grandchildren.......sorry Jim.
Anyway the film would be more like 'How the West was Won'. Let's think about ways to make the path easier with way points and inns as opposed to worrying about the more difficult speed and time issues......Oh and watch out for Indians. :-))