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vanvlizr
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my previous post about using nuclear power to travel near or at the speed of light was solely inspired by gleise581g. this system being relatively close at 20.5 LY away, which with current propulsion technology would take around 300,000 Earth years to travel there. although this extrasolar planet has had a lot of uncertainty about its existing, from what i have read it was recent confirmed. this 'super-earth' is about one and a half times the size of our own planet meaning that its gravity would be similar. the star gleise 581 is about the third of the size of our sun but because gleise 581g is much closer in comparison to our Earth and sun, it is considered to be in the middle of the habitable zone as far as not too hot and not too cold. the importance of that is that because its temp on average is about 20 cooler than Earth's (without atmospheric effects) is that it could be able to retain surface water. and since it is similar in size its magnetic field would be able to hold a thick enough atmosphere to protect the planet, which is very important because gleise 581g is tidally locked with its sun, this meaning its year and day are the same and there is always a dark and a light side, but with a dense enough atmosphere it would be able to disperse heat evenly across the planet. with all of the above considered it sounds like this planet is our best chance of finding any kind of life intelligent or not. but before we hurry to pack our bags we have a huge obstical to overcome. that obstacle is the way we travel through space, currently scientists worldwide are developing new methods of propulsion, some say nuclear is the future, others say Electromagnetic pulse is. regardless this is a huge problem for us to overcome before we can even think about visiting E.T.