Altair-4
From Wikinfo
Altair-4 is the homeworld of the extinct Krell and the scene of the rescue in the pathbreaking film Forbidden Planet.
Only 16.6 light years from Sol, Altair is a G-type star like Sol and thus one of handful of candidates for an early unmanned or manned interstellar mission. The possibility of finding either a habitable planet or terrestrial like life on an Earth-like planet orbiting a G-type or a K-type star appears greater than around planets orbiting other, more common M-type stars.
Distance between the Earth and the candidate stars is important. One of the solutions to the Fermi Paradox is that the stars are a long way away and that makes interstellar exploration difficult - immensely costly in terms of time and enegy.
Links
Background
- Paul Gilster. 2004. Centauri Dreams: Imagining and Planning Interstellar Exploration. Copernicus Books. ISBN 038700436X. p. 51.
- Charles Sheffield. "Fly me to the Stars: Interstellar Travel in Fact and Fiction," in Interstellar Travel and Multi-Generation Space Ships, Yoji Kondo et al, ed.s, 2003. Apogee Books. ISBN 1896522998.
- Stephen Webb 2002. "Solution 9: The Stars Are Far Away," in Where is Everybody? Fifty Solutions to the Fermi Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life. Copernicus Books. ISBN 0387955011. pp. 62-71.
