I would reflect firstly on why I needed to lead such a voyage in the first place? — Benj96
I would also assess if this earth like planet is home to an advanced sentient being with culture and society or just a primordial soup of simple amoebas and bacteria. — Benj96
If the planet is not yet with life but has the conditions necessary, I and my team would set down, cast the materials in place and accelerate the fruition of the first lifeforms then leave it to grow, perhaps to return in the future to observe what has come of it. — Benj96
44Do the math. — Agent Smith
homo sapiens are about 2 million years old. — Agent Smith
Suppose the planet is 100 light years away from Earth and the ship approaches 95% of light speed fairly quickly. — jgill
How many years would have passed on Earth? — jgill
What is our likely response? — Bitter Crank
Were you beamed aboard the alien ship from earth by the aliens to provide guidance on how to approach us, what would you say? — Bitter Crank
What happened to our Neanderthal cousins? — Agent Smith
Bugger them, I'm more concerned about Australopithecus. :yikes: — Tom Storm
I'm more interested in the voyage itself. Suppose the planet is 100 light years away from Earth and the ship approaches 95% of light speed fairly quickly. Then time dilation will slow the passage of time aboard ship compared to that on Earth, but it was mentioned (speculated) in another thread that the distance the ship has to travel shrinks, so how long aboard ship would it take? — jgill
Who is supposed to run -- us or them? — Bitter Crank
The past is vital to our understanding of the present & the future. What happened to our Neanderthal cousins? Questions, questions, questions. — Agent Smith
We initiate scientific protocols,.... — Christoffer
A most responsible approach! You'd better have chosen your exploration team carefully - no impatient hotheads - but, of course, you would have. — Vera Mont
That doesn't sound like math. Anyway, I'm not that good at stringing 0's. — Vera Mont
Well, that's because some things can't be mathematized ... or can they? — Agent Smith
Well, that's because some things can't be mathematized ... or can they? — Agent Smith
The universe is 13.8 billion years old; galaxies, though younger, are also billions of years old; our earth is roughly 5 billion years old; life on the planet is around 4 billion years old; homo sapiens are about 2 million years old. Do the math. — Agent Smith
An open question, especially with regard to human behavior. — jgill
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