Ask HN: What's an insanely fast way of space travel possible in the near future? - cvaidya1986
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rawgabbit
NASA is designing an engine that uses heat from a nuclear reactor to heat a
propellant and expel it for thrust.

[https://www.wired.com/story/nasa-wants-to-send-nuclear-
rocke...](https://www.wired.com/story/nasa-wants-to-send-nuclear-rockets-to-
the-moon-and-mars/)

[https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-
mars/a18345717/n...](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-
mars/a18345717/nasa-ntp-nuclear-engines-mars/)

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PaulHoule
Tiny light sail spacecraft don't need new physics.

People have talked about going to 0.1 c and to another star that way, but
rather if you can send a large number of those past 500 a.u. you can use the
Sun's gravitational lens to image continents on planets in other solar
systems, watch stars get wrecked by a black hole, and watch other
civilization's TV programs.

That same kind of telescope is how you get downlink from the interstellar
filmcraft.

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trenchgun
Live as a digital copy, travel at the speed of light.

~~~
karmakaze
The catch is that the receiver has to be sent out first. And what difference
does 'where' make when digital?

