Boldly Going

Scientists and engineers that address the issue that deals with the ways and means of how to get astronauts boldly going on interstellar voyages talk-the-talk about how existing chemically-fueled rockets aren’t going to cut the interstellar mustard (unless one introduces concepts like multi-generational starships or suspended animation). They then move on to talk-the-talk of using possible alternative rocketry engineering techniques that speeds things up. Ram-jets and hydrogen fusion and nuclear power and ion-drives and solar sails and warp drives and even more exotic ways and means have been bandied about for decades.

The central problem never really addressed is that whatever propulsion methods you use, you still need all sorts of bio-friendly infrastructure. You need bedrooms (or bunks), privacy areas, toilets, 100% efficient recycling, a comfortable (i.e. – small) temperature range, artificial gravity, oxygen, water, food, entertainment (including members of the opposite sex), crew expertise in a wide variety of subjects which means a lot of crew, and so on. Think Star Trek’s Starship Enterprise.

Where’s or what's the technological fix that eliminates this entire additional infrastructure and in fact eliminates alternative propulsion systems as well? Well what part of you actually needs to "boldly go and explore strange new worlds"? It's NOT your big toe. The only part of you required is your mind-in-your-brain. So, it is the eventual technology that will allow one to download the biological mind (wetware) by converting it into equivalent software and thus transferring it into a mechanical body which maybe the starship itself along with mobile robots you can transfer your software into when you need to actually explore. Since the only part of the biological entity that needs to actually boldly go is the mind, when converted and downloaded, well no toilets, bedrooms, atmosphere, artificial gravity, etc. required. Just a long-lived power source (nuclear isotopes) and maybe a ‘sleep’ switch (like your PC has) and away you boldly go.