James Adams

Physics 1040

Conversation Paper

Planning for this project required a look back at articles from the discussion groups, as

this proved to be the source for the most conversation in this course thus far. At first, pretty

much all of the articles seemed generally interesting to talk about. However, discovering that

trying to have an hour long conversation about all of these topics may prove to be a little too out

of this world, the course of this project changed. There were originally 7 select articles, of

varying content, and trying to wrestle a group into following me along the path of a few different

topics, seemed forced. To me, a conversation includes more than just one side. I want to listen

as much as I want to talk during this project. The final decision was to limit the conversation to

two articles on the same topic, this way there would be ample time for back and forth between

the group on a given subject. The topic that found itself to be the center of gravity for this

conversation to orbit, is in regards to space travel within our solar system. Its the dream of any

child growing up, and still many adults, so it seems prudent that this would be an exciting topic

for the party to discuss.

The second step of the project was to select a group to hold a discussion. To be honest,

my schedule is rather pressing these days, and I dont often find myself in large groups outside

of work. Luckily, a few colleagues at work have expressed interest in astronomy, space travel,

and science fiction along our relationship. A few have even talked about astronomical events

such as the 2017 solar eclipse, and even the math behind our journey round the sun, round the
galaxy, ever going. So the perfect candidates for the conversation just happened to be a few

feet away from me, more often than 40 hours a week.

For this discussion, well refer to those involved by A, J, and S. Opening up this

conversation was relatively easy, once there was time for a break at work. I started the

discussion by bringing up an article in which Spacex has announced they will be sending 2

people on a trip around the moon, sometime next year. They company has already had people

pay the deposit, and now they wait for final tests to be run. J brought up a few interesting topics

in regards to moon travel.

The Chinese government put a telescope on dark side of the moon recently, which is a

great idea to capture pictures of our universe from a stable location, without an atmosphere.

However, the lander has experienced troubles from the abrasive and corrosive materials on the

surface of the moon. The US has known about the corrosive conditions for years, but the

Chinese did not collaborate with the US before sending their lander, so their lander has suffered

the consequences.

This conversation piece sparked A to bring up an interesting point in regards to the

material on the moon. He had read an article online which mentioned how raw material on the

moon, when mixed with polymer can be fashioned into mirrors to make a telescope. This

discovery opens up a lot of potential in our ability to view the universe. If this technology is

harnessed safely, we will be able to create massive mirrors, which could take impressive

measurements from the moons position in space. At this mention, we had a little chuckle at the

ability for the world to come together and build a supermassive telescope, resilient from the very

materials which can otherwise be corrosive. Although we were all hopeful. After a few more

jokes and speculation, we moved on to the next topic of conversation that I had prepared.
 Is there life out there, and could it be potentially within our own solar system? The

hypothetical mission which is being written for a trip to Europa, was the beginning point to start

the conversation. Everyone in the group was well familiar with the possibility that life could exist

on Europa as we understand the moon to have the building blocks for life - water, and

geothermal fissions. But seeing that we are coming close to finding if there is actually life,

whether it is microbial or fish-sized is exciting. To be realistic, S checked us and let us know that

we shouldnt think there are aliens, until we know that there are aliens for certain. We all

admitted to that very real fact, but still we couldnt help but marvel at the possibilities.

J brought up another interesting source of information he had recently absorbed.

According to the transit method, astronomers are able to discover if other stars have planets

orbiting them. By measuring the time it takes for shadows to appear and disappear, we can

learn the mass of an exoplanet, but not much else. Apparently, some astronomers have recently

measured irregular transit recordings. They are unlike anything we have ever recorded before.

There is speculation that these recordings could point to the possibility of a Dyson Sphere. A

Dyson Sphere is a hypothetical method of absorbing energy from a sun. This concept was

named after Freeman Dyson. He speculated that an efficient lifeform would be able to absorb all

energy from a star, and be operating off of a completely renewable source of energy, without

any waste.

The irregularities in this transit method fit almost too well with this concept. However I

brought up that perhaps, just maybe, there is a more plausible reason for this measurement.

Perhaps there are various asteroids, or other natural materials orbiting the star which cause

these irregular measurements. Because after all its not aliens, until its aliens Although, it is

nice to dream.
 Bibliograpy

Moon travel:

Moon dust - china moon shuttle -

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28323-china-has-had-a-telescope-on-the-moon-for-the-p

ast-two-years/

Mercury telescopes on moon / polymer mixed with moon dust -

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008AAS...212.2507C

Life out there:

Dyson sphere - energy harvested from sun - life out there.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/physics/bizarre-data-from-far-off-star-may-suggest-a-solar-c

ollecting-megastructure/

Original articles used for discussion:

Scientists write a hyptothetical Europa Landing:

http://www.astronomy.com/news/2017/02/europa-hypothetical-mission

Space X plans to send two astronauts around the moon in 2018:

http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/27/technology/spacex-moon-tourism/