Since I am so totally bored today I thought I’d tell you about my fab idea, but brace yourself it’s a bit out there. Obviously I haven’t got round to the calculations yet so it’s only a concept so be a bit forgiving.

This plan is to save the planet from destruction in a few billion years when the sun reaches the end of its life and swells up melting the earth or possibly swallowing it up completely, plenty of sun block will be needed then. To do this I propose to move the entire earth to a new younger star and thus save it. How could this possibly be done I hear you ask, surely a planet is far too heavy to move??

Well remember that we are infact already moving, quite quickly infact, indeed the whole solar system moves at about 220km/sec round the galaxy. What I’m thinking is to give it a gentle nudge in the right direction by using the sun as our engine, the earth being dragged round the sun will just follow where ever it goes, snared by gravity. Hang on did he say use the sun?! yip that’s right, the sun, our handy sized nuclear engine guaranteed to run for another 4 billion years and that’s the key since it can give us a small bit of thrust but for a very very long time. Just as well since even at the speeds we move through space this could take millions of years to reach the new star.

So how do you steer a star? Quite easily really since it’s blasting of billions of tons of gas and partials all the time into space at around 250 miles/sec, so all you need to do is control the direction that all that gas is going and there is your thrust. To do this I envisage a large donut shaped ring in a close orbit around the sun probably quite close to it within the orbit of Mercury but far enough from the surface to prevent the materials it is made from melting, Mercury’s surface temp is only 630 °C so it seems not to much of a challenge and on the side not facing the sun the temperature would be extremely cold so that would help cool the device.

To control the gas a simple shutter system would be used, rather like Venetian blinds, opened and closed by computer as they orbit past the correct point where you want the gas to escape. With the gas being released only in one direction the gas trapped on the other side would exert pressure on the suns surface gently nudging it off course, be it a very small amount, but remember we have millions of years to do this. Really it’s like a large convectional rocket engine, the ring being the combustion chamber.

Over time the whole solar system would gradually be steered to the new star at which point if timed correctly (quite big computers would be needed here) that if the earth was in the right position to the new star the earth would be pulled out of it orbit with the sun and snatched be the new star and start orbit that instead, as the rest of the solar system passes by, doomed to die with our old sun but not the earth.

So there you go dead easy, and I bet you thought it was impossible

(Note : this is what happens to your mind when you have 10 cups of coffee a day!)

[Edited on 23/6/08 by Mr Whippy]

you have got way to much time. but good idea.

stuart

granted the materials could be fairly basic to form the donut around the sun, but the qualtities are huge and therefore would need finding on other planets.....

you'll need some pretty hefty thermal underwear and loads of AA batteries as it will get pretty cold and dark once we get away from the sun.

you should try to cut a chunk out of the sun and tow it along at a safe distance until the new sun is found.

Sounds good to me.......how's the moon cable car coming along by the way?

[Edited on 23/6/08 by eznfrank]

quote:

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Originally posted by Mr Whippy
So there you go dead easy, and I bet you thought it was impossible
[Edited on 23/6/08 by Mr Whippy]

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Brilliant!! can I have some of the stuff you are on or at least your curious blend of coffee.

LOL

That's what happens when you smoke

quote:

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Originally posted by nib1980
granted the materials could be fairly basic to form the donut around the sun, but the qualtities are huge and therefore would need finding on other planets.....

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ah ha reading through that link I find this -


Class A (Shkadov thruster)
One of the simplest examples of stellar engine is the Shkadov thruster (named after Dr. Leonid Mikhailovich Shkadov who first proposed it), or a Class A stellar engine.[1] Such an engine is a stellar propulsion system, consisting of an enormous mirror/light sail — actually a massive type of solar statite large enough to classify as a megastructure, probably by an order of magnitude — which would balance gravitational attraction towards and radiation pressure away from the star. Since the radiation pressure of the star would now be asymmetrical, i.e. more radiation is being emitted in one direction as compared to another, the 'excess' radiation pressure acts as net thrust, accelerating the star in the direction of the hovering statite.[2] Such thrust and acceleration would be very slight, but such a system could be stable for millennia. Any planetary system attached to the star would be 'dragged' along by its parent star.

For a star such as the Sun, with luminosity 3.85 × 1026 W and mass 1.99 × 1030 kg, the total thrust produced by reflecting half of the solar output would be 1.28 × 1018 N. After a period of 10 milion years this would yield an imparted speed of 20 m/s, with a displacement from the original position of 0.03 light-years. After 10 billion years, the speed would be 20 km/s and the displacement 34,000 light-years, a little over a third of the estimated width of the Milky Way galaxy.

beaten to it but at least I'm not the only looney to come out with it

[Edited on 23/6/08 by Mr Whippy]

Mad as a

A doughnut around the sun with the average orbit of Mercury will have a circumference of about 365 million kilometres. Even a very thin doughnut would consume a stupendous amount of material.

mmmmmmmm donuts!

sorry, distracted by mmmmmmmmmmmmm donuts. errr what where you saying?

Nurse, Mr Whippy's out of bed again!!!

What happens if the computer crashes? I assume you're not using windows 95?

Wow you guys are wierd, can't get my Fireblade to run smoothly, let alone a Shkadov Thruster
Barry

Mr Whippy you need to say hello to Mr Newton (and short after that Dr Valium and Nurse Thorazine...)

But as choice comedy posting - ROTFLMFAO!

200 degrees in the shade!!!!

[Edited on 23/6/08 by ahb]