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Imagine I am floating in space some large distance X above a neutron star or high mass object and I am using rocket boosters to stay stationary relative to the object. Assume no other forces acting on me or the object and no weird things with the neutron star like magnetic fields or extreme temperatures, it’s just an object of very high mass. Using the laws of motion but excluding special and general rel I calculate that by using my rocket boosters and gravity I can accelerate past light speed before I will reach the neutron star. Obviously this is impossible. Now let’s say I accelerate towards the object and turn my rocket boosters on full blast to accelerate me more. Assume the most powerful rocket boosters imaginable. I know that I can never break light speed before I hit the neutron star but what will my reasoning for this be. What will I actually experience? What will my excuse be as to why I did not reach light speed before impact if you hypothetically asked me after my death? As I approach light speed in my reference frame will I see the distance to the neutron star length contract so that my distance to it shrinks and I don't have enough distance to accelerate past light speed? Or does length contraction not happen in an accelerating reference frame?

garyp
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murram20
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You will observe that blasting the rocket motors for a short time causes a velocity change of almost all objects in the universe. The amount of velocity change depends on what velocity an object had initially, more initial velocity means less velocity change. When initial velocity approaches c, velocity change approaches zero.

To explain this effect you need to change to an inertial frame and do the explaining in that frame.

Here "velocity" means velocity towards or away from you.

Here is the explanation in an inertial frame: How does SR explain constant light speed where the distance between observer and light source is increasing?

stuffu
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