[ExI] Von Neumann Probes

[spike at rainier66.com]

-----Original Message-----
From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> On Behalf Of Ben
Zaiboc via extropy-chat
Sent: Sunday, 25 January, 2026 12:54 PM
To: extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
Cc: Ben Zaiboc <benzaiboc at proton.me>
Subject: Re: [ExI] Von Neumann Probes

On 25/01/2026 17:13, spike wrote:
>
> At .01c any collision with a dust particle or any particle consisting of
even a few thousand atoms would make the material in the shield irrelevant.
Reasoning: do a calculation or even a reasonable estimate on the energy of
collision, compare with the chemical bonding energy of whatever material you
want or can plausibly imagine.

Yes, that's the direction I was thinking in.

It looks like any fast interstellar probe would have to be in the >1g range
or it wouldn't survive for long.

There will be a trade-off between mass, energy needed to accelerate (and
decelerate), and target velocity. Presumably a spreadsheet with a competent
person at the driving wheel would be able to zero in on an ideal range of
those factors that gives us a size and speed that would work for a von
Neumann probe.

-- 
Ben

_______________________________________________







Ben, what is the big hurry?  If it takes quarter of a million years to get
to the next star, I don't see why it is a big problem.

Accelerating to only a few micro-C solves a lot of big problems, such as
erosion and how to decelerate upon arrival.

spike