| ▲ | bluGill 5 hours ago | |
Space is really big. We might be able to get a probe someplace, but can't get data back. We don't even have the ability to detect a civilization as advanced as us at the nearest star (only 4 light years away, but probably can't support life as we know it) if they put all their resources into sending us a message, and we spend all our resources to look at the right moment. There are laws of radio propagation that mean I doubt we ever will. In turn this means a probe needs to get there, and then come back. That is a lot of energy... I can't say it is impossible, but it is highly unlikely the laws of physics will ever give us a loop hole big enough to pull this off. | ||
| ▲ | m4rtink 4 hours ago | parent | next [-] | |
I don't think there any physical limitation for communicating with a probe at a couple light years at least. Project Daedalus had this all modeled and specified back in the 1970s (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Daedalus), using a 40 meter directional antenna on the probe. | ||
| ▲ | m4rtink 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | |
Not to mention sufficiently big megascale engineering not to mention some of the more crazy kinds of propulsion (NSWR, antimatter, etc.) should be perfectly visible with current technology over 4 light years and possibly much farther away. | ||