Is suspended animation at cryogenic temperatures a good future strategy for manned space exploration?

You've got a couple of questions in there - not that I mind, they're good questions. :>

1. "...does the potential for such technology warrant a renewed look by private industry and by government researchers?"

Even without any bearing on manned space travel, absolutely. Think of the applications for medicine, to name a field... if we can put people into safe suspension for even 24 hours, imagine how much more effective and safer surgery would be.

2. Now, as for manned space exploration... "it depends" kind of sums up the options.

2A. What's the safety factor?

I'm leery of cryogenics, for the reason that I'm not aware of any large-brained animal that can fully recover after having been frozen. Yes, I know, people have been revived after thirty minutes under the ice.. but I mean, frozen *solid.*

I'm no expert on this subject. Please bring on citations to the contrary, but freezing one's brain has to be an order of magnitude more difficult than freezing the rest of one's body. I don't want to come out of the freezer unable to remember my name...

2B. What's the scope?

Almost by definition we're talking about interstellar missions. The only way I can imagine that we'd seriously push for some kind of human estivation in interplanetary travel, is if there was some tremendous urgency in establishing bases in the outer solar system...

For example, solar-system-wide, international competition, first one there gets the helium 3 and a great view down the gravity well. That imperative would over-ride the hazards of daring such exceedingly long trips (Saturn, anyone?) with chemical propulsion.

Without such a driver, we'll just have to wait until nuclear rocket propulsion or magsails come on-line.

By definition, an interstellar voyage will be a long one- and an irrevocable one as well.

2C. What's the mission? Colonization or exploration?

It was a common experience for immigrants to the United States, until about 50 years ago, to regard their trip here as an essentially one-way voyage.

Future emigrants from our solar system would have to have much the same attitude, regardless of travel velocity; therefore, travel velocity would play second fiddle, I think, to the overall object of getting a colony-sized vehicle up to *any* fraction of light. If so, then suspended animation would be hugely important, as it would avoid the enormous difficulties of a generation ship.

I can grok a high-tau mission to a nearby star without hibernation - time dilation will shorten the trip considerably for the explorers.

That said... it's not unlike saying "Giant squid calamari will be the absolute best seafood ever" - one first must have caught a giant squid! So the last requirement for my post will have to be:

2D. What's the engine technology?

Voyaging at a high fraction of c would be great for a number of reasons, but, but, but. That's pretty advanced tech. And this too determines or influences a number of other decisions.

No. It's not.

Though it might become the economical solution, it is not the "Good" solution.

The trouble with hybernation space travel is that it places the survival of the crew and ship in the hands of computers and machines.

As good as our engineers are... As clever as our programmers are... There are too many variables and unknowns in a long space voyage to leave the entire trip in the hands of an "Auto-Pilot".

Now, I'm sure you're question makes the presumption the landing and take off and any pre-determined "tricky areas" has the crew or some crew waking up to perform them... It's a common enough idea in Science Fiction...

But the truth is, space is not empty enough to make this the "Good" idea.

Wouldn't it be cool to see other planets?.. That's the desire that makes us want to shorten the trip, or leap through time by sleeping through the trip...

So there's a very good chance that we will continue to pursue just that... And how many people will die? -Not from the process, but in the transit due to accidents...

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Sure, Generational Space Voyages would have a much high death rate, but those people would have lived out thier lives rather than having them cut short... And more ships would survive the voyages thanks to the alert, experienced and continually training crews members...

The trouble is that Hybernation/Suspended Animation is cheaper concept. (Smaller ship, Far less energy requirements)... And Human lives don't cost the survivors/investors very much at all...

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Mind you the I'm perceiving the ultimite goal as being completion of the mission and the advancement of the human condition rather than as a business man's perspective i.e. "What's in it for me?"...

It's also important to realize that the people likely yo take a journey like this would be great minds, and better to have them thinking for a living than sleeping for a century...

This is a possibility. One of many that we will probably not live to see come to pruition. Cyrogenics will most likely be used for intersteller travel if there is no other choice. Someone or several someones would probably be left awake to monitor ship function, communicate, etc. Shift work most likely with some sleeping for months or years and others awake for days or months.

Cryogenics will most likely be perfected within the next hundred years. Frogs, crickets and even some shrews now do it naturally. Bears and other mammals hybernate. It is just a matter of time before we have this worked out for people.

No it is not, and here is why:

Space travel to another world or planet is extremely dangerous. Just look at all the former astronauts and cosmonauts. All of the early astronauts were subjected to high doses of intercosmic radiation. Another is the possibility of solar radiaton bombarding unprotected craft. The way i see it, the best possible route to interstellar exploration is the use of artifical intelligent probes, robots, and landers. Plus, cryogenics is not likely to work with humans due to damage of human organs and tissues when freezing and thawing.

The problems with cryogenically suspending humans aside, lets look at it from a different pov. Say i figure out how to freeze you without killing you. I further figure out how to thaw you without killing you when you get to where you are going.

What good does it do me? Or anyone on earth? By the time you reach this distant galaxy, we'll all be dead, as will everyone you left behind. Then you have to make a return trip. You MIGHT be able to radio your findings back, but that could take years as well.

The fact that other animals can achieve this to some extent bodes well for the realization of suspended animation. Given the large distances between the stars, I believe suspended animation will have to be implemented.

Manned space exploration is too expensive. For the price of one manned space exploration, we can send several unmanned probes out to space.