ON 25 FEBRUARY Kelvin F. Long presented a talk titled "The Philosophy of Starship Physics: The Exploration of Interstellar and Intergalactic Space" He began his talk with a title slide of the slower-than-light sleeper ship Avalon from the film Passengers. He told us that this movie starship, capable of half lightspeed, was designed after a sycamore seed. He then went on to tell us of other types of conceptual starship, such as those using the (still-theoretical!) warp drive, and of more near-term ideas such as the BIS's own Daedalus, and its successors from the Icarus project. Kelvin made the point that a starship is not just a technological issue, but a social one as well, and told us of the Interstellar Research Centre, headquartered in Gloucestershire, of which he is Research Director, and of his book, The Stars in Our Times, one of a number of his works on interstellar travel.
展开▼
