RE: starship-design: Go Starwisps

["L. Parker" <lparker@cacaphony.net>]

Antonio,

The probes we are talking about would be travelling at relativistic velocities 
(0.9xx c) at these velocities it would be nearly impossible to synch the 
clocks no matter how good your lasers. Time runs at different rates a those 
velocities so even atomic clocks would not stay in synch.

Now if you can keep them on the same vector but spread out across a wide
volume of space it would work, but it would be easier to just build them in 
orbit around the sun, say about the asteroid belt or even further. As Kelly 
(or was it Kevin?) popinted out, a sufficiently large array spread out that far
could see quite a bit of detail of the nearer stars without actually going there.

My sketch for a planned exploration of the nearer stars included the use of 
large space borne telescopes to identify likely systems for priority in 
scheduling further robotic and manned missions.

Lee Parker

    Of course, if a probe scope is nice, what about a multi-probe
interferometric telescope (scopes being kept in sych through good lasers
and atomic clocks).Its just an idea, but it will come true sometime next
century.

    Antonio C T Rocha

[L. Parker]  
Bohr moved in atomic circles while Schrodinger waved and Heisenberg 
hesitated.