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Anyone who thinks we'll ever travel to another solar system really truly fails to understand the distances involved. The furthest humanity has ever travelled,

Anyone who thinks we'll ever travel to another solar system really truly fails to understand the distances involved. The furthest humanity has ever travelled, by way of analogy, is a couple of millimeters - to the moon. The nearest star system relatively speaking is another 200 kilometers further. And sure you can appeal to the "well you never know what humans are capable of in the future" line of thinking, but that's really just star trek fantasy - there's not the remotest chance, nada, never. Here's a fun video that explains and will totally dismiss any idea that we'll ever get there - apart from Star Trek fantasy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCSIXLIzhzk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCSIXLIzhzk

devoply 7y ago
To quote dumb and dumber, so you mean there's a chance?
est31 7y ago
I doubt that we'll build generational ships with current humans inside. Instead we'll have to find out ways to prepare us ourselves for the journey. E.g. hibernation. Something that changes our perception of time. The Milky way is 100k light years apart. If we manage to travel at an average 0.01c, we can reach any point in the Milky Way in 10 million years. That's still more than ten times shorter than the time span of the dinosaur occupied earth.
varjag 7y ago
Are you really seriously suggesting that noone dreaming of interstellar travel appreciates interstellar distances?
carapace 7y ago
Not everyone, but most people. I think anyone dreaming of interstellar travel and not also dreaming about human life extension is being silly. Until and unless we can live for at least 10Ky there's almost no point in going beyond the heliopause, unless you just want to live like an anchorite. Just going to space within our own Solar System will be like living (not just working) in a very unsafe mine. Without some sort of "magic" FTL and/or "stasis field" we are as trapped as a beetle on Hawaii. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stasis_(fiction) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stasis_(fiction)

devoply 7y ago

To quote dumb and dumber, so you mean there's a chance?

est31 7y ago

I doubt that we'll build generational ships with current humans inside. Instead we'll have to find out ways to prepare us ourselves for the journey. E.g. hibernation. Something that changes our perception of time. The Milky way is 100k light years apart. If we manage to travel at an average 0.01c, we can reach any point in the Milky Way in 10 million years. That's still more than ten times shorter than the time span of the dinosaur occupied earth.

varjag 7y ago

Are you really seriously suggesting that noone dreaming of interstellar travel appreciates interstellar distances?

carapace 7y ago

Not everyone, but most people. I think anyone dreaming of interstellar travel and not also dreaming about human life extension is being silly. Until and unless we can live for at least 10Ky there's almost no point in going beyond the heliopause, unless you just want to live like an anchorite. Just going to space within our own Solar System will be like living (not just working) in a very unsafe mine. Without some sort of "magic" FTL and/or "stasis field" we are as trapped as a beetle on Hawaii. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stasis_(fiction) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stasis_(fiction)