On Monday, April 17, 2017 at 7:40:51 PM UTC-5, WaywardHorizons wrote:   
   > Hello, rec.arts.sf.science.   
   >    
   > I was thinking of the best ways to send people to other star systems, and I   
   came to the conclusion that it would take too long of a time for actual,   
   single person to get to another star system without antimatter or absurd mass   
   ratios. So I decided to    
   use a seed ship-style starship as the ship needed.   
   >    
   > But then I run right into the propulsion system again. Would an interstellar   
   seed ship use a Firefly-type fusion drive or a gigantic laser sail? How much   
   mass would the payload itself be, anyway?   
      
   It depends.   
      
   If your seedship has no mature human crew, just fertilized ova or the   
   equivalent, presumably its automated systems are trusted to raise the people   
   upon arrival.  In that case, the limiting factors are the mass of the ship and   
   its automated systems, and    
   the time frame the project planners are willing to work within, and how long   
   the former can operate.   
      
   If your seedship and its contents can last long enough, and the planners are   
   wiling to be patient, it would be fine for the ship to take centuries or more   
   to get there.  In that case, relatively simple propulsion technology could do   
   the job.  Ion drives,    
   even chemical rocketry might be sufficient if the time issue is relaxed enough.   
      
   As for the mass, that depends.  The mass of a system to keep fertilized ova   
   alive might actually not be too bad...but you need a system that keeps them   
   alive and viable for the full length of the trip.  You'll also need robots or   
   the like to set up the    
   infrastructure and raise the kids when you get there, you'll need landing   
   vehicles or whatever when you get there, etc.   
      
   The problem is that your parameters are interactive.  That is, the mass and   
   volume of each component of the system depends on the mass, volume, and   
   performance of the other components.  So it's a mass of moving parts.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)