- #1
LAP3141
- 20
- 4
NASA has proposed a mission to Alpha Centuri:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2069_Alpha_Centauri_mission
This mission would involve a spacecraft traveling at 10% of light speed and therefore relativistic effects could be somewhat significant.
Let's assume this spacecraft is carrying a human being from the Earth. Let's also assume that this human is kept in some sort of a "sleep" state until after the 10% light velocity is achieved. Would this human measure a Lorentz contracted interstellar distance? If so, then how would this mesh with his prior knowledge of the distance as observed from the Earth? That is, if he knew that his observed distance was shorter with respect to that observed from the Earth then could he conclude that he was in the moving frame?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2069_Alpha_Centauri_mission
This mission would involve a spacecraft traveling at 10% of light speed and therefore relativistic effects could be somewhat significant.
Let's assume this spacecraft is carrying a human being from the Earth. Let's also assume that this human is kept in some sort of a "sleep" state until after the 10% light velocity is achieved. Would this human measure a Lorentz contracted interstellar distance? If so, then how would this mesh with his prior knowledge of the distance as observed from the Earth? That is, if he knew that his observed distance was shorter with respect to that observed from the Earth then could he conclude that he was in the moving frame?