/sci/ - Science & Math

Hey /sci/. I recently watched a movie called Sunshine and I'm a bit intrigued about the science in it.

If you're not familiar with Sunshine, it takes place in 2050; the plot is that the Sun is dying because this thing called a Q-ball has fallen into it and is basically 'eating' the Sun. The closest thing to a solution that humans can come up with is making a ship that can go to the Sun (made a bit more believable because of that huge disc on the ship, which is a shield to protect the ship proper from heat and radiation) and strapping a city-sized bomb to it that is designed to explode with enough force to make a tiny Big Bang and basically divine fire the Q-ball to death.

Obviously it's not 100% adherent to modern science, but it seems to come pretty darn close. The ship takes 16 months to get from Earth to where it is at the start of the movie (not too far outside of Mercury's orbit), and it seems to keep its crew alive for that long with what they called an 'oxygen garden (some sort of huge on-board greenhouse).'

But the only way to really learn all the science-y stuff is by watching the DVD extras. I kind of wanna learn more, though. Why's a Q-ball a bad thing? Could a ship like the ones in the movie (called the Icarus 1 and Icarus 2) be conceivably built by humans, assuming we devoted our entire global funding and resources to its construction? Is the concept of an 'oxygen garden' feasible for a long-time space flight in this day and age? Is gold really a smart choice for a spacesuit material for this type of voyage? What type of materials, if any exist to our knowledge, could be used to make the reflective shield or, more amazingly, the bomb's armor?

Sup /sci/?

I just watched the movie 'Sunshine'. I'm wondering if the design of the ship is even possible. If you haven't seen it I recommend it I really enjoyed the movie.

But the ship has a giant shield on the front that seems to be covered in gold. Apparently it reflects the solar energy away from the ship so it can approach the sun...

So yea, is this even possible? I'm pretty much a physics noob.

pic related, best one i could find

This immediately came to mind.

>>1770595
well their is no radiation from the sun since they are behind the massive shield of their ships. i could be wrong though.