Proposal
Inquiry Question: Could the physics of Star Wars be used to aid us now in space exploration?
Primary Purpose: To explore. I have always been curious about space travel, even wanting to be an aerospace engineer one day just to help make those amazing new discoveries and even work with NASA once upon a time when they were still in the business of space shuttles and sending people to other rocks. I am still interested in doing this today, though no longer by becoming an engineer. Nowadays there are plenty of civilian research sites that help out the professional scientists with their work and contribute to breakthroughs, just not in the same way as if they too were professionals. I doubt that I will ever really be able to really do anything to further this field but I would like to at least keep up to date on what progress has been made and I’d love to see if there is a way I can help just being a civilian.
Prior Knowledge: I do have a bit of a history with at least the science fiction side of space exploration. My family was always big into Star Wars and Star Trek and other early science fiction shows. When I was about thirteen or so my family started watching the Star Trek series in order, starting with original Trek and ending with Enterprise. So I had a taste from an early age of science fiction that continued into high school, college and probably beyond. That was helped along by the many science fiction books we owned (I love to read) and by my brother watching all of the Battlestar Galactica series in order for nearly a year.
Beliefs, Assumptions, Stereotypes: I do believe that there is a way that we will eventually be able to travel quickly through space and I hope to maybe even see it in my lifetime. Obviously there are always assumptions and stereotypes that anyone who likes science fiction and space travel is a bit of a dreamer and a nerd, but I would like to prove those classifications wrong and get everyone excited about space. It really is what Gene Roddenberry said, “Space[is]: The Final Frontier”.
Working Knowledge: While there are many topics to choose from for this particular subject, I’d like to focus on just a few. Specifically I’d like to look at an unlimited or self-sustaining fuel for an engine that may or may not exist, because the engine forms the core of the spaceship. I’m going to take the ideas that Star Wars had and see if they are legitimate and able to be used for real if tweaked a bit for reality. Since our current understanding of the laws of physics is quite limited, one avenue that might lead us to the answer to at least some sort of power source is particle and quantum physics. But our current answers to power sources are limited and would not support a trip to any place any time fast. That is why much research must still be done to find answers to this power. In addition, any answer to this question of unlimited sustainable fuel would also solve the problem on earth as well. In addition, I found a site called zooniverse which allows civilians access to scientific data collected by scientists to aid the professionals with their research since otherwise they would not have enough people to do the work. While it did not have particle or quantum physics, it did have some physics results available to the public. Definitely a site to keep track of. I definitely have much to learn since I’ve never even taken physics yet but I am definitely interested in the subject and plan to be for the rest of my life. One site that I’ve noticed has become extremely important to me is the Nasa website with all of their previous trips to space and data from those trips available to the public.
If I need to expand: I am going to research what current methods are being tried for a fuel solution, where George Lucas got the ideas for Star Wars technology, and whether or not we can potentially use them for actually going to space.
If I need to condense: Only focus on technology relevant to the fuel problem, focus on only certain technologies from Star Wars used for fuel/power sources.