Hyperspace flights could fast-forward space exploration

By Dick Pelletier

      

    "Welcome folks to the 3-hour Las Vegas-Mars Hyperspace Express. In a few moments we will leave Earth atmosphere and experience a quantum leap as we achieve greater-than-light-speed travel. Be sure to glance out your window during our hyper-speed mode and watch the cosmos change into different views; truly one of the most breathtaking sights you will ever experience. Expected arrival at Branson-Bigelow Spaceport is noon Martian time; we hope you enjoy your trip."

    This scenario may sound like fantasy, but physicists, encouraged by recent interest in the work of German scientist Burkhard Heim, believe his hyperspace propulsion idea could become a proven concept by 2015, and with expected advances in quantum computing and artificial intelligence, by mid-century; space ships could be traveling at faster-than-light speeds visiting planets beyond our solar system. Heim’s concept adds repulsive anti-gravity to Einstein’s space-time theory and generates the peculiar thrust required for hyperspace travel.

    If this hypothesis proves correct, it will radically change space travel. Forget spending six months going to Mars in a crammed rocket; hyperspace ships could round-trip the red planet in just five hours. For longer trips, hyperspace vessels could fly to Alpha Centauri, four light years away, in only 30 days. The Star Trek slogan "To boldly go where no man has gone before" could become humanity’s mantra today.

    The U.S. Government favors this futuristic idea. Roger Lenard at Sandia National Laboratories believes they can test the concept with their "Z" machine, which generates field intensities and gradients that can produce hyperspace technology reactions in the lab.

    However with this technology estimated to be four decades or more away, former NASA Chief Michael Griffin, in an Aviation Week blog, focused on more realistic programs for our space future. "In 2020," Griffin says, "the first manned-mission to the moon in two generations will create an outpost that by 2024, could host permanent residents."

    Original lunar settlers will be scientists uncovering geological secrets. Later, entrepreneurs will come to mine resources and build solar power stations that beam energy back to Earth. Forward thinkers predict that tourists will one day flock to the moon for the ultimate vacation.

    Experts hope astronauts will learn to live off the land during this mission, and more fully understand the challenges of the manned-Mars trip planned for early 2030s, which enthusiasts believe will one day become a self-sustaining colony for vacationers and permanent residences.

    Billionaires Richard Branson and Robert Bigelow hope to stimulate public interest and support by taking private citizens into space for vacations and jobs. These ambitious entrepreneurs see a trillion-dollar industry unfolding by mid-century that include space hotels, spas, luxury homes, and gravity-free manufacturing facilities.

    Other ideas forecast for later this century by space advocates include colonies on Jupiter moons Europa and Io and artificial habitats orbiting three hundred miles above Earth. Scientists would utilize molecular nanotech to terraform these new worlds, and apply genetic engineering to strengthen the bodies of our brave space pioneers enabling them to adapt comfortably to non-earth-like environments.

    Forward thinkers predict this "magical future" will become reality in our lifetime. And within 140 years – by 2150 – positive futurists believe more humans will live in space than on Earth.

This article appeared in various print publications and on-line blogs. Comments always welcome.