When will we be exploring other galaxies?

Question

For colonising reasons.

Answer 1

when we find out that they have oil

Answer 2

I feel the real question on this subject is not when we will START exploring but when we will RETURN from exploring. Let us take the case of exploring one of our closest neighbors, alpha centauri. Alpha centauri is a star that is only about 20 light years away (much closer than another galaxy). If we could travel at 9/10 the speed of light (that is a BIG if), the trip to alpha centauri would take about 20 years to get there and another 20 years to get back. When we returned, we would be at least 40 years older. HOWEVER, on earth, over 10,000 years would have passed! This is a classic illustration of one of the effects of relativity known as "the twin paradox". We may explore other galaxies some day. If we ever return to earth, so much time will have passed that human beings will probably have evolved into some else!

Answer 3

We can only explore other galaxies with telescopes. Physically going there would take too long in a ship because it would take almost 200,000 years.
Now, there are other solar systems that might have habitable planets here in our galaxy. Going to those would take 50-100 years at a pop going the speed of light or even faster. If that speed were even possible in say 100 years from now, WE will all be long gone, but the ones who do go the speed of light will be going back in time as they do it, getting there before they left but they will still age. Going the speed of light or faster would take making an engine capable of producing the energy output of the sun and putting it in a spaceship and controlling it perfectly. Not gonna happen in our lifetime. Then again the earth is round and millions of people thought that to be an impossibility too!

Answer 4

Likely never. And there's no real pressing need to either. The Milky Way has something like 100 billion stars, of which a fair fraction should have planets that can be rendered human-habitable (the fraction goes up dramatically if you decide you don't care for planet-bound living and decide to colonize asteroids and cometary bodies around other stars instead. Don't laugh, planets are expensive to get things onto and out of, due to their deep gravity-wells. They're also vulnerable to things like asteroid impacts, geological catastrophes, and the like.)

It takes a photon of light over 100,000 years to cross from one end of the galaxy to the other. The fastest vessel we could ever build, keeping in mind the universal speed limit, will probably take two or three times that long. Given the huge amount of real-estate another starsystem would have available, and the time it'd take for that starsystem to build up enough people and factories and such to mount its own colonization efforts, you could probably spend many times the lifespan of the human race to date exploring and colonizing, and still not run out of room in our one galaxy.

Answer 5

The closest galaxy is Alpha Centauri, which is 4.8 light years away! We are currently able to send a mission which would take 23 years to arrive. The propulsion system of choice is the matter - antimatter engine. This is currently the only propulsion system that works and can be used. Even if we had fusion the energy density is too low. Why is this mission not being done then? We require 139 micrograms of antiprotons for fuel. It currently costs 6.4 billion dollars to produce one microgram of antiprotons.

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Answer 6

I highly doubt people will be sent to other galaxies. The closest one is 50 000 light years away, and we haven't even made it to mars yet. Though we may get unmanned probes to other galaxies, people wouldn't survive the journey. When we do colonize space though, (and its almost certain we will) we will colonize closer objects in space like the moon or mars. Scientist have theorized, though, about colonizing venus. They would send in algaes and bacterias that would feed off the harmful gases in venus's atmosphere, giving off oxygen as they do so. Theoretically, centuries after the project began, Venus would be safe enough to colonize. This last colonozing theory is unlikely, however.
Hope I helped you!

Answer 7

when we can harness the energy of the magnitude of supernovas, thereby curving space-time into a singularity. this would ripple the gravity and fold the end upon the start, reducing distance to a shorter finite distance.

its like trying to get from one edge of a piece of paper to the opposite, you use energy (your hands in this case) to fold it until point A and point B touch.

same is said to be possible with distances of light years. even if we traveled at light, it would take thousands etc of years to get anywhere. that space is big folks. so a worm hole hyperspace version of transport is needed.

we really need to harness the sun, and then something bigger. but that energy cannot be contained, so there is the puzzle for science. how do we create it?

till then, we are doomed never to go far

Answer 8

Since it takes about 3 million years to get to the next galaxy, I would say about 3 million years from now, plus or minus a few thousand years. Or it might be 3 billion years ...

Answer 9

Two weeks from next Thursday

Answer 10

Don't hold your breath waiting ..............except for a few "close ones" which are about 160,000 light years away, the more significant ones are a few billion light years away. You could never get there.

Answer 11

Never, mankind will not live long enough to come up with that kind of technology.