Understanding of properties of vacuum space and the interaction of those properties with accelerated massive objects seems to have potential to become a break through in science.

GRT has brought us a long way, but does not explain CMB or ZPE. Maybe it is time for the next steps toward space exploration. Initiatives toward Mars are a beginning and a way to improve on technology and test theories.

In another thread there was a consensus GRT will become modified in some way at the extreme high energy density that distant travelers would require.

A number of concepts are important for making progress, and would need physical tests.

1. The physical laws are the same everywhere and must reside in the vacuum microstates. The laws are enforced by energy in the vacuum which must be very large.

2. Small cosmology constant requires the vacuum energy to be divided in different types like kinetic and potential that compete for control of curvature. LaGrange Density is small because of the competition and is in agreement with GRT.

3. Vacuum energy is very large to agree with QFT, but finite because of additional equations created by the division of energy.

4. Finite energy opens the possibility that vacuum space degenerates in some local extreme high energy zone and undergoes a quantum change of state in that place.

5. GRT does not describe the quantum states or extreme energy condition. Planck's constant h remains constant when GRT gives accurate predictions, but becomes variable in the change of quantum states.

6. Topics of Scale Relativity, Squeezed Quantum States, and Hierarchy of Plancks may lead to description of the high energy cases. Scale 4 represents flat space inside a warped field and is interpreted as a worm hole. It requires a higher dimentional folded model of space time such as TGD.

7. Kinetic energy of an object resides in a local zone of space as Albert Einstein recommended in 1949 Autobiographical Notes. It requires a naturally occurring zero velocity reference frame that Einstein didn't have.

8. Isotropic CMB discovered shortly after Einstein died, provides a natural zero velocity reference anywhere.

9. A fast moving vehicle is accompanied by a kinetic field of stress energy, which creates the opportunity for an on board field generator to interact with the kinetic field at small relative difference of velocity, generating thrust with moderate power consumption.

10. Degeneracy of vacuum can be achieved in about one year of acceleration equal to Earth gravity. The total energy requirement is still very large. Conventional technology will never do this.

11. Heisenberg Uncertainty allows limited energy to be borrowed briefly from the vacuum and promptly returned to the vacuum. Entropy requirements must be met if the borrowed energy is used in propulsion.

12. Schrödinger interpretation of third law of thermodynamics allows the entropy requirements to be met by construction of devices for non random filling of energy states.

13. Ability of human travelers to function in degenerate space is in question.

14, High speed travel is not described well in 4D, especially a worm hole is not described. A 6D system is required and can be constructed from 3 velocity vectors as base units with a separate clock attached to each.

15. Kinetic energy of a fast vehicle can open a worm hole in space. Additional field generators may shorten the acceleration time for opening the worm hole.

16. Star travel can be achieved, but terrible accidents are also expected, example if engine thrust power is not decreased promptly upon generating a worm hole. Predictable accidents include injury of travelers, destruction of the vehicle, or becoming lost backward in time with burned out engines.

17. Small steps are needed. Mars initiatives are first steps.

The energy required for star travel in a life time is about the same magnitude as the energy needed to move a planet from one orbit to another. In such case gravity is the only force that conceivably could do the job. It disqualifies a lot of other technologies, and shows that local modification of gravity is about the only practical chance of making the journey.

Consider a high speed vehicle accelerated by an induced gravity field somewhat forward of the mass center. The vehicle and crew may be in free fall together unstressed by acceleration which can be larger than familiar g. For health reasons there may be designed an artificial gravity for the crew.

Many people have worked on gravity induction and related Q-Thrusters. Best advice at present is that the quadrupole of gravity could be imitated in an interference pattern of dipole sources. For efficiency the fields may be generated inside the vehicle and be largely contained within it because the gravity field passes through all materials.

Ability to move planets gives a reasonable chance of creating a habitat world in most of the stable star systems.

I think of star travel something like building the canal in Panama. The canal was started 25 years too soon without sufficient technology. The principal promoter was 75 years old when it started, meaning he couldn't wait for better medicine and machines. The final French design was nearly half constructed when the project was sold, but it was obsolete because larger ships were being built. In final analysis the French project did 25% of the total work and spent about half of the total cost, losing 20,000 people in 25 years, compared to about 5,000 people lost in 10 years after the sale. Some of the larger French machines 35 years old were still in use at the completion. The project proved necessary for a government to finance and manage in a window of opportunity, although many private concerns contributed, as is likely in star travel.