If it helps, consider that the reality of space exploration is not quite the romantic vision we see :) [1] Let's assume we have advanced but still physically p

If it helps, consider that the reality of space exploration is not quite the romantic vision we see :) [1] Let's assume we have advanced but still physically plausible technology. The universe is huge. The Solar system is huge. Getting anywhere takes forever! Months, to years (can be shorted with very large energy expense, but you only go faster with the square root of energy!). Shielding from radiation requires large barriers. So you need to spend most time in a relatively small quarters guarded by large mass barriers (magnetic fields might help a little too). Everything about living in space will probably be a mix of boring, hard/confined and extremely costly. This kind of yearning makes me remember something that Richard Feynman said. It's something like (paraphrasing) "We know almost everything about the universe, the nature of forces, even how life works; the forces that bind everything together are known to astounding, extraordinary precision -- pretty much all phenomena relevant at all to every day life. Yet when I meet someone who isn't a physicist, they will ask almost immediately "So what don't we know about physics? What unsolved problems are there?". There's so much we do know and they're not interested in that! And it's so fascinating!". (I think that deserves a name, like "Feynman syndrome", or something :P Like the physics we already do know (and the mathematics as well) is astounding, fascinating, I think so is where we can go, and where we can observe. Like, the Earth (and its lifeforms!) is absolutely astounding. If you go a block around your house, with a keen eye, there are probably interesting enough things to spend a lifetime studying. A single species of insect, a species of tree, microscopic polen in the air, microorganisms, human-made systems, it's just too much to tell. And you've barely left your home. Then there are all sorts of ecosystems and places on Earth, I bet most don't have to travel far to go to a place of natural beauty they've never been to. For reference, Jupiter seems to be about 600,000,000 km away from us. It's interesting and beautiful for sure, but also... a giant blob of gas. If we were a little more thankful for what we do have, that's also unlocking a great treasure. Also, we don't value enough our imagination (and even computer games!) too I think. In a movie or computer game[2], you can make so it so the travel to Jupiter takes seconds (or minutes to hours, just to make it more exciting ;) ), and you get quite astounding views too in the comfort of your home. Telescopes and scientific missions do the same. Through fiction and fantasy, we can travel to places that don't even exist and have all sorts of exciting histories :) If you think about it, life right here on Earth is amazingly beautiful really -- but we have to look with the right eye (mindset and wisdom) to see it at all... That said, bring in the space movies :) [1] Nothing at all wrong with a little romanticism I think, that's good. But we shouldn't lose sights of reality... [2] I really wish computer games were more culturally valued, and not seen as a way to kill time, or an addictive past time. They're really our tool to travel to brand new worlds at our fingertips (of course, with great power comes great responsibility...), we should recognize that as our generation's great medium !