(word processor parameters LM=8, RM=75, TM=2, BM=2) Taken from KeelyNet BBS (214) 324-3501 Sponsored by Vangard Sciences PO BOX 1031 Mesquite, TX 75150 There are ABSOLUTELY NO RESTRICTIONS on duplicating, publishing or distributing the files on KeelyNet except where noted! June 27, 1992 TORCH.ASC -------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE BOOK: IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBILITIES (1971) PAGES: 122 - 125 ____________________________________________________________________ WITH THE FLYING TORCH TO THE STARS This question was answered by Professor Stanioyukovitch of Moscow in the following way: man kind will conquer the stars! This scientist and his collaborators in his research institute have formulated plans for a space satellite powered by anti-matter, and have begun the research work necessary for its constriction. They have christened their spaceship The Flying Torch. In such spaceships, which travel almost at the speed of light, mankind could explore the entire universe, or at least all the heavenly bodies in our galaxy and perhaps other galaxies. The Flying Torch is based on the following principle: the greater the velocity of the particles emitted from the engine, the faster the acceleration. Professor Stanioyukovitch has postulated that if a spaceship could be constructed that emitted light instead of burning gases, that is to say a sort of flying torch, it could attain speeds which thanks to the contraction of time resulting from the theory of relativity would permit mankind to travel even to the most distant heavenly bodies. Early on, however, a significant impediment manifested itself. A mirror never reflects light or other electromagnetic rays one hundred per cent. A tiny portion of the energy is absorbed by the mirror. And through the accumulation of billions and billions of calories even such a tiny portion would be enough to cause a mirror to melt. Stanioyukovitch and his collaborators have solved this problem. They have demonstrated that there is one instance in which the radiation is REFLECTED ONE HUNDRED PER CENT for all practical purposes, the reflector absorbing less than one-billionth of the radiation. That happens when the waves are one-tenth of a millimeter, the borderline between radio and infrared rays, and when the reflector consists of a thick block of polished copper. Readings of extreme precision have shown that a bundle of rays of Page 1 the approriate wavelength and of an intensity five million times that of the sun can be reflected VIRTUALLY IN TOTALITY by such a copper mirror. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Vangard Note... Remember the attack by the Greeks using the sun to burn up invading ships in the harbor? Perhaps they used COPPER MIRRORS to reflect the majority of the suns rays...so everything old is new again... -------------------------------------------------------------------- The second obstacle in the way of The Flying Torch is the problem of converting the energy released by the destruction of matter by anti-matter into rays with a wavelength of one-tenth of a millimeter. Stanioyukovitch and his team seem, however to have solved this problem too. I do not believe that some kind of expedient optimism is at work here. The third obstacle is cosmic radiation. A spaceship traveling at close to the speed of light will be bombarded with significantly more cosmic rays and particles than a spaceship traveling at eight or ten miles per second, as will be easily appreciated. Since the force of cosmic radiation remains more or less constant throughout the universe, a space ship traveling at high velocity will be struck by more rays than a spaceship traveling more slowly over the same span of time. The radiation dose would very rapidly be fatal for the occupants of the spaceship. Some kind of equipment is therefore necessary that protects the occupants against the danger from outside. The answer is an artificially generated magnetic protective wall. The Flying Torch would of course have to be constructed in space and fired in such a way that its beams never reach the earth's surface; otherwise large areas of the earth's surface would be burned or would even melt. In Professor Agrest's opinion tektites were caused by the reactors of such "flying torches" that visited the earth in the distant past or were dispatched into the cosmos by very early cultures who had attained an unmanageably lofty level of evolution. A relatively simple formula can be used to calculate the length of the space journey in the time dimension of the occupants of these flying torches. Applying the formula to a spaceship that travels half its journey with an acceleration corresponding to the pull of the earth's gravity and the other half braking to the same acceleration rate right up to the moment of arrival, the results are fantastic. The occupants of such a flying torch would notice nothing unusual. Gravity in the spaceship would be the same as on earth. Time would seem to be passing normally and smoothly. Yet within a few years they would have reached the most distant stars. After 21 years (measured in the time of which they are conscious) they would be in the innermost center of our Milky Way, 75,000 light-years from earth. In 28 years they would be at the constellation of Andromeda, the galaxy nearest to us; its distance is 2,250,000 light-years. Please note that we are not talking here of science fiction. The Page 2 formula under discussion has been verified experimentally in the laboratory. Using this formula everyone able to handle logarithmic tables can check our calculations. Mistakes are hardly possible, and the results obtained on this subject agree. It is therefore important to reflect on the importance of this development for mankind. The scientists who traveled to the constellation of Andromeda would be returned to earth in 56 years; added to the figure should be the years of their stay on whatever planets they investigated. Let us assume that they take 65 years-but that is 65 years measured in their time dimension. Back on earth 4,500,000 years have gone by in the meantime. Traveling at a velocity close to the speed of light is a conquest not only of space but also time. Not only the universe but also the future becomes accessible to man. Only science-fiction authors have so far thought of the consequence. But it is now high time that scientists too reflected on the consequences of such an undertaking. Once the travelers are in the future, a return to the past becomes impossible. We are in the real world, not the world of fiction. Wells's time-machine is not realizable and will never be realized. But even the possibility of exploring the universe and returning to earth centuries, thousands of years, or even millions of years later is sufficiently staggering. If, as many believe, history is cyclical, if cultures decline and are reborn, the flying torch could contribute to the conservation of continuity, provide blood transfusions to a declining culture from the bank of a highly evolved science from their past, and also give to it the benefit of all the knowledge collected by the occupants of the spaceship on the planets of other solar systems. Such a colonization not only of space but also time would be something completely new in the history of mankind. There has been much talk of working for posterity, of preparing a glorious future, of working for the men of the future. The flying torch, the spaceship fueled by anti-matter, would provide us with real, physical possibility of communicating with posterity. The men of the future will probably undertake journeys into space not only to explore the galaxies but also to communicate to future cultures what they were able to accomplish. The reason alone would make discovery of anti-matter as significant as the discovery of fire long ago. -------------------------------------------------------------------- If you have comments or other information relating to such topics as this paper covers, please upload to KeelyNet or send to the Vangard Sciences address as listed on the first page. Thank you for your consideration, interest and support. Jerry W. Decker.........Ron Barker...........Chuck Henderson Vangard Sciences/KeelyNet -------------------------------------------------------------------- If we can be of service, you may contact Jerry at (214) 324-8741 or Ron at (214) 242-9346 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 3