[ExI] Von Neumann Probes

[Ben Zaiboc]

On Monday, 26 January 2026 at 01:22, spike at rainier66.com <spike at rainier66.com> wrote:
> 
> -----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

True, as long as there's no hurry. But there might be a reason to hurry. A nearby supernova about to happen, for instance, or similar things.

---
Ben