In article <2b1cq3570r4m4afgcnpbu1icuii6t2u33j@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
John Schilling <schillin@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>On Sat, 02 Feb 2008 18:44:04 -0800, Erik Max Francis <max@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>wrote:
>
>>James Nicoll wrote:
>
>>> In JEP's CoDominium universe, humans develop the model that predicts
>>> Alderson tramlines between 2004 and 2008. In 2008, the first starships
>>> leave the systems.
>
>>> I can't recall how far out the nearest tramline was but I
>>> think it was beyond Saturn.
>
>>> In reality, if someone dumped an FTL drive like that in our
>>> laps, one that offers no quick solution to getting around in stellar
>>> systems, where the jump point isn't conveniently located, how long do
>>> you think it would take before someone got around to sending a probe
>>> out to the jump point?
>
>>I suspect it would happen pretty quickly, easily within a decade.
>
>Who do you imagine is capable of sending spacecraft to Saturn within a
>decade? NASA couldn't do it, not even with unlimited funding and the
>certain knowledge that every NASA employee would be tortured to death
>if they failed.
On the plus side, the odds that they'd develop some method
of transporting themselves somewhere outside the reach of their would-
be executioners might not be too bad.
--
http://www.livejournal.com/users/james_nicoll
http://www.cafepress.com/jdnicoll
(For all your "The problem with
defending the English language [...]" T-shirt, cup and tote-bag needs)
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