Trivia about traveling to Pandora

Fkeua 'Awpo · January 28, 2010, 06:13:54 PM

In the movie, one guy said that it took 5 years, 9 months, and 22 days to get to Pandora.
The first video log (which I believe is on the same day) is on May 19, 2154; which is a Sunday. Also, the video log states that it is 5:09 PM.
Since they arrived on May 19, 2154; it would put the departure date at July 29, 2148; a Monday.
In order to get there within the time frame, they would have to be traveling at an average speed of 410,100,000 miles per hour, which is around 61% of light speed.

Just some random trivia I calculated myself...

Txontaw · January 28, 2010, 06:19:14 PM

That's not that hard to do, with that type of engine, especially since you have no resistance to slow you down.

suomichris · January 28, 2010, 06:22:43 PM

Quote from: Fkeua 'Awpo on January 28, 2010, 06:13:54 PM
In the movie, one guy said that it took 5 years, 9 months, and 22 days to get to Pandora.
The first video log (which I believe is on the same day) is on May 19, 2154; which is a Sunday. Also, the video log states that it is 5:09 PM.
Since they arrived on May 19, 2154; it would put the departure date at July 29, 2148; a Monday.
In order to get there within the time frame, they would have to be traveling at an average speed of 410,100,000 miles per hour, which is around 61% of light speed.

Just some random trivia I calculated myself...

Heheh, I totally did the calculations earlier today to see how fast the ship would have needed to be travelling....

I'm not sure about the dates, though. Due to relativistic effects, one might suspect that they were "re-synch" their calendar upon arrival--in fact, I'm not sure how they could get by without doing that... So, the trip, as far as the external world is concerned, likely took just over seven years, so their arrival date would be more like seven years before the first vid log...

Fkeua 'Awpo · January 28, 2010, 06:24:15 PM

Well the arrival date is right, but the departure date is a bit sketchy.

suomichris · January 28, 2010, 07:43:00 PM

Quote from: Fkeua 'Awpo on January 28, 2010, 06:24:15 PM
Well the arrival date is right, but the departure date is a bit sketchy.

Yeah, it's rather hard to calculate exactly without know how quickly the (de)accelerated... :p

Regardless, a pretty reasonable round trip: 6 years on board, 9 years to the outside world... Totally acceptable.

So, when do we leave??

Nìwotxkrr Tìyawn · January 28, 2010, 07:54:09 PM

We really don't know what kind of timescale they used to describe how long it took to get to Pandora. Because the faster you go time kinda goes out of whack. I might have it backwards but I believe it is that time slows down for whomever is going faster, so the closer you get to light speed the faster time elapses outside of your "bubble".

suomichris · January 28, 2010, 07:57:33 PM

Quote from: Nìwotxkrr Tìyawntsaheylu on January 28, 2010, 07:54:09 PM
We really don't know what kind of timescale they used to describe how long it took to get to Pandora. Because the faster you go time kinda goes out of whack. I might have it backwards but I believe it is that time slows down for whomever is going faster, so the closer you get to light speed the faster time elapses outside of your "bubble".

That's what we're talking about. If the trip took 6(ish) years to Alpha Centauri, about 9 years would have passed for those back on Earth...

Nìwotxkrr Tìyawn · January 28, 2010, 08:01:03 PM

Oops sorry, only read like the first post XD