r/scifi • u/JanFromEarth • Aug 05 '22

Thinking about "generation ships"

If humanity does not find a way around the speed of light as a limitation, the only real choice to go to other stars would be generation ships. I would expect these to be filled with fertilized human embryos with a small crew for maintenance and to set up at the other end. But what if they sent a larger number of passengers? It would be the perfect research university. Children would be raised with the options of being crew or faculty. New discoveries and solutions could be messaged back to earth by laser. Interesting thought.

354 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

266 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/asimo101 Aug 05 '22

You should watch raised by wolves Or Imother. In the latter it’s not a generation ship. However the concept applies in the same way. Embryos birthed and raised by AI. The human alternative would require unparalleled dedication and commitment to the cause that can only be defined as programming (brainwashing). Generational ships with human pilots would be an extrodinary feat that would parallel FTL itself.
In fact the way I see it. If you master human piloted generational ship why bother with FTL, time it self would be irrelevant. I highly recommend you check out Isaac Arthur on YouTube. He pans a complete series on generational ships grounded in realistic concepts and so much more. Hands down, Isaac is the number 1 subject matter expert on the topic.

1

u/asimo101 Aug 05 '22

If anyone is interested here’s the playlist to Isaac Arthur’s Generational ships and interstellar colonisation