Does Humanity have any chance of flying to other habitable planets in the next 1 million years?

Question

I heard it will take sooo long for humanity to reach any habitable place that it is simply impossible. Also, If they wanted to go really fast, their space-craft would melt because of the speed. So is humanity doomed to be dead in 1 mil years one way or another?

Answer 1

As a student of science, I need to make some clarifications before I can answer your question.

1. Assuming human beings can survive another 1 millions, which is a long shot, since at current rate, humanity will have a hard time keeping itself going without major disaster in 50 years.

2. Even to travel prolong distance in space in order to reach another planet, there are some major scientific discoveries we now know that it's nearly impossible to travel at the speed light, and speed of light is not nearly fast enough for us to get to another habitable planet within reasonable amount of time (say like a few days, not a few years). There are warm hole theories, which space-craft can could travel faster speed of light, but again, they are theories, not laws of science.

Granted, there are amazing technological advances over the past century, but they have been incremental, and not great leap forward. We need several great leaps in science before space travel between planets is reality for everyone. You can't rule everything out, but just can't really see it at the current rate.


XR

p.s. And yeah, like it was said before, space-craft does not 'melt' in any condition of space travel. There is nothing in space to rub against the craft to heat it up, but space-craft could disintegrate under enormous gravity, or in gigantic energy shockwave, which starts to wonder into science fiction area.

Answer 2

Since you asked if HUMANITY can make it there or not, I'd have to say almost definitely, given that the human race survives that long.

Reasons:

1) a million years is a long time - look how fast our technology is growing now - most advancements being made in the last, say, 300 years. We've been around (arguably) for somewhere around 50,000 years, so in another million, we should have some pretty amazing technology.

2) even if technology reaches a plateau, it should be possible to reach the stars using "generation ships." While the people who originally embark on the journey would be long gone before the ship got anywhere, their descendents should be able to maintain their vessel and make it somewhere, so in that sense, humanity made it somewhere, even if individuals didn't.

3) constant 1g acceleration is capable of reaching a few nearby stars within one human lifetime (although we are pretty far from being able to accomplish even THIS meager feat), and who knows - we may find habitable planets nearby.

Answer 3

A space craft would not melt because of speed. There is no air in space to head up the skin of the craft. A million years is a long time. As the James Bond movie says "Never say Never." So I give it 2 chances, slim and none.

Answer 4

i think you are considering just one type of space craft and travel while thinking of travelling to far off planets (in a million year). thats too long. there might be new technologies which will develop much before that - which might be faster or something else might develop which we can not even imagine right now. there are hundreds of possibilities. I am sure the world will be much different place in another 200-300 years. may be we will conquer the length of human life or develop another kind of spacecraft which will work on different kind of fuel/energy. nothing is impossible... and ofcourse, maybe we will have habitable planets closer than what we imagine right now....

Answer 5

Wait, what happened to 2012, that has to be real, it is on the internet. Well assuming 2012 doesn't happen, I guess I vote for the look of the 80's to come back in fashion. I think religion will be more general, churches don't look like churches anymore, they are more like warehouses. I don't think English will be a language, with texting, it will be some kind of new code. I think the political system will be the same worthless mess we have now. You can't break the good ol' boy network.

Answer 6

Sure, a million years in the future?

Foreseeable technology:

1) Total conversion of matter power sources, based on mini-black holes.
2) 1g acceleration rockets that work for long periods of time. Contrary to the comments above, 1g will get you to the galactic center in about 30 years of proper ship's time.
3) Uploading and downloading of consciousness from biological to computer form, and to nano-technology-based biological/computer hybrids.

These make colonization of the whole Galaxy no problem in a million years, even without faster-than-light travel.

In fact, this is one of the big problems in SETI---there must be a few civilizations in the galaxy that are many millions of years more advanced than we are, so why aren't they here now (the Fermi paradox).

Answer 7

It depends on what you mean by habitual, NASA has Project Constellation set to lauch in 2010 and they say they can get to Mars soon after. Also scientists are trying to work on a man-made atmosphere, by melting the polar ice caps, one is water one is carbon dioxide, then add nitrogen and create a breathable atmosphere. We will also plant fields of food for us to live on and recirculate oxygen.All of this while we live in space bubbles, a type of habitat. So if you count Mars as habitable we could ive there by 2025.

Answer 8

a very good chance. If we are still around in a million years the only way our species can survive is to colonize other worlds. If warp drive, jumpgate, hyperdirve ect technology is never developed we still could travel to other stars If we developed suspended animation techniques, ect. Our destiny is to travel the stars.

Answer 9

We made it to the Moon before we even had laptops or cell phones. We've successfully landed a craft on a speeding asteroid. Think about it.

Answer 10

We know of no way - even theoretical - to get to other stars in anything like a reasonable time.

Even given infinite energy supplies, you could not accelerate a space ship at more than about 2g without killing the occupants eventually (twice the effect of gravity on Earth). Doing that it would still take centuries to get to anything other than the nearest stars.

But the ship would not burn up.