The Speculist

A) Before 2025
B) 2025 - 2075
C) 2075 - 2150
D) After 2150
E) It will never happen

A) USA (government)
B) Peoples Republic of China
C) European Union
D) Russian Federation
E) Japan
F) Sweden
G) Combined Government Consortium
H) Private Developers
I) Other

"Other" responses:

- None
- Wacko religious cult
- International Space Station is already there
- India
- It will start as a government outpost, but be expanded to be a private permanent settlement.
- I haven't a clue. I think there will be several parties.
- private indutry in cooperation with world governments.
- Religious groups
- USA (Private Developers)

A) Low Earth Orbit
B) The Moon
C) Lunar Orbit
D) Mars
E) Asteroid Belt
F) Other

"Other" responses:

- Nowhere
- One of the Earth-Moon Lagrange points, or geosynchronous orbit.
- LaGrange Points
- L1
- Somewhere in high earth orbit or in a complex orbit in cis-lunar space.
- L1 through 5
- Permanent settlement means bearing children and that means Mars. The Moon will have mining camps before that, however.
- geostationary orbit
- Geosynchronous orbit if the way to space is a space elevator.

A) Reusable orbital spacecraft
B) Expendable rockets
C) Reusable/expendable hybrid (like the Space Shuttle)
D) Space Elevator
E) Sky Hook
F) Balloons
G) Other

"Other" responses:

- None
- Microwave thermal rockets
- Reusable/expendable hybrid not like the Space Shuttle
- Expendable rockets launching expendable vehicles. Later we'll go to hybrids. Almost completely reusable launch systems? I don't know. Mass drivers, space guns, or infra red lasers (ie, anything where a substantial boost or energy is provided from the ground) will eventually be supporting a lot of the cargo sent to space.I'm not a big fan of space elevators. The engineering just doesn't seem there to me. Sky hooks though are a serious possibility (I consider just after 2075 to be a good time, but space tethers of more modest length should be in use for a few decades prior to this).
- Advanced drive such as ani-gravity

A) Before 2025
B) 2025-2075
C) 2075-2150
D) After 2150
E) It will never happen

A) Before 2025
B) 2025-2075
C) 2075-2150
D) After 2150
E) It will never happen

A) Before 2025
B) 2025-2075
C) 2075-2150
D) After 2150
E) It will never happen

A) Before 2025
B) 2025-2075
C) 2075-2150
D) After 2150
E) It will never happen

A) Before 2025
B) 2025-2075
C) 2075-2150
D) After 2150
E) It will never happen

A) Rockets
B) Orion (re-purposed nuclear weapons)
C) Solar/Laser Sail
D) Other

"Other" responses:

- Daedalus Drive with antimater boost
- As yet undiscovered technology.
- None
- Something that is presently exotic (like the Heim drive).
- subspace
- 'Slung from a space elevator' sounds reasonable. A lunar one would be longer (from wikipedia) and thus travel faster at the terminal end. That could be quite a push.
- Not yet developed or concieved
- as yet undiscovered technology
- Nuclear Fusion
- daedalus
- Unknowable.
- Antimatter
- Mass driver.
- Fusion Torch
- Who knows?
- A hybrid system. Acceleration outbound is provided by a trajectory that takes advantage of gravity assists and laser powered sails.Decelleration is provided by ion drive powered by a thermoelectric power source. High impulse low but continuous thrust. Few moving parts. Some decelleration also accomplished by gravity assists. The destination will be well-mapped out by the time the starship arrives. It'll take centuries, but will be in the lifetime of whatever life is on board.Overall acceleration will be very modest with peak speeds up to 1% of the speed of light.
- While a solar sail will be the first propulsion system likely used by robotic craft, a human piloted craft probably wouldn't use it (too many holes after awhile I'm guessing). My prediction is that FTL travel will be possible by manipulating gravity.
- something else
- Physics not yet known
- Neutral particle beams that can be ionized and reacted against may be more efficient means of transferring momentum than using lasers for a laser sail. Rockets can't get things going fast enough without some ridiculous energy density to your matter, such as pure matter/anti-matter anhilation.
- Advanced anti-gravity or warp type drive. Anything else would be too slow.
- fusion torch
- anti-gravity warp drive - of course.
- Ion Rocket
- Technology using as-yet undiscovered principals of physics.
- We're just beginning to discover the connection betwenn the EM spectrum and gravity. I think within a hundred years we'll have a practical "gravity drive" of some sort, and that will take us to the stars.
- Good question
- generation ship
- Very low thrust, high specific impulse plasma or ion drive.
- Fusion, perhaps assisted in the collection of fuel with some varient of the Bussard Ramscoop
- Laser Sail/Fusion with Magsail to brake at destination star system.
- wormhole
- fusion/antimatter or new physics
- a propulsion technology not develloped yet (but not like warp or someting exotic like that, just something we haven't thought of seriously yet)
- Question is poorly formed; not amenable to an exclusive multiple-choice format; STL generation ship will use multiple means including all the above, while FTL ship's propulsion is probably post-Singularity and therefore unpredictable.
- When rich full sensory virtual reality becomes possible (2020-2030 according to Kurzweil) Telepresence in very accurate virtual environments may be very satisfying and more acceptable than long seperation from a humanity entering a technological singularity.
- Heim space drive!
- Ion Thruster
- nuclear
- Undiscovered Technology
- Warp Drive (albequere) Not the Star Trek one
- New technology will be needed to make flights to another solar system feasible. The new technology need not necessarily be propulsion. Radical life extension could increase the probability for Ark-like missions to colonize a new world. (Mostly likely, that kind of commitment would require finding an Earthlike world in a relatively near area.)
- Warp engines.