i'm interested in sci-fi, but i heard that if aliens exist, it would take them thousands of years to get here anyway. kinda kills most stories.
also, how long would it take to go from here to mars? if you can, answer by lightspeed and our current fastest technology.
2007-03-05 06:29:38 · 8 answers · asked by ajj085 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
We have not yet discovered any life supporting planets.
Mars is 183 light seconds away at the closest point between the two orbits. (So traveling at the speed of light would take a little over 3 minutes.)
At the furthest point in orbits, Mars is 21 light minutes away.
2007-03-05 06:40:16 · answer #1 · answered by Vegan 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is all relative. If lightspeed is the limiting factor then it would take more than 4 years to get to the nearest star, and over 100 to get to the nearest star that is likely to have an earth like planet.
Mars is just months away. Asteroids of almost planetary size are just a bit further.
2007-03-05 06:45:59 · answer #2 · answered by campojoe 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unknown quantity.....nearest life supporting planet....few givens...none in this solar system, nearest star ~10 light years...meaning that IF there was an inhabitable planet in the closest solar system to our own it would take ten years to reach it at the speed of light. we can't reach those speeds (yet). Sci-Fi takes into account that aliens (and someday man) will/have found a way to travel much faster than light cutting the travel time significantly. at our current technology it takes about three monthts to reach Mars
2007-03-05 06:41:53 · answer #3 · answered by kerfitz 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The nearest supporting planet would be Mars of course. It would take one year to get to Mars in the spaceship(lightspeed) but in Earth days it would take five years to get there.
2007-03-05 07:00:38 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mars? About 8 months, perhaps a few weeks more. We have the technology now, it would just cost a lot.
Eight months is for the travel with the least rocket fuel. There is also something called a "Type 1 interplanetary trajectory", which is faster (about 7 months).
2007-03-05 06:39:34 · answer #5 · answered by morningfoxnorth 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi. Life supporting planets, at least for OUR type of life, are pretty rare. The nearest is hard to guess, but let's say there are 500 within 500 lightyears. There would have to be one at a much less distant value, say 10 lightyears. It would take at LEAST 10 years to get there.
2007-03-05 06:39:28 · answer #6 · answered by Cirric 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Google "Europa". Its a moon covered in ice with a water/sea core. A ships on its way there now to drill through the ice and sea whats underneath/ Its likely there will be strange fish creatures etc. Its ment to arrive there in 2012. Nearest so far....with new ion engines being made we'll soon be able to move alot faster ;)
2007-03-05 06:35:14 · answer #7 · answered by peter s 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
At to days Level of technology several lifetimes.
2007-03-05 06:33:44 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋