How far in the future do you think this will be? How long do you think it will take to get there?
2007-08-17 06:27:05 · 8 answers · asked by Sherry 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
First robotic voyage: 500 years.
First manned voyage: 5000 years, assuming we can hold civilization together for that long.
Anyone who thinks it will be faster doesn't know how big space really is.
2007-08-17 08:02:05 · answer #1 · answered by Keith P 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I actually don't think our first interstellar voyage will be to the Centauri star system, because there are more interesting star systems that are within a 10 light-year radius.
When we develop the capability to travel to stars in a reasonable amount of time, I can see us going to other stars, first. That is, unless we detect some interesting planets in the Centauri system.
It's not the star that we would necessarily want to see up-close, but any earth-like planets in the star system.
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2007-08-17 13:41:26 · answer #2 · answered by tlbs101 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Honestly, that wouldn't be a first-choice destination... sure, it's the closest star, but it's actually a trinary system, and very unlikely to contain any habitable planets.
The best bet is either Barnard's star (about 8 light years away, but no planets as yet detected), or the yellow-dwarf "sun's twin" in Hydra (the star doesn't have a name, just a number). Both are fairly close, and, if they have planets, would be more likely to be able to support life.
And a timeframe.... not for at least 100 years.
2007-08-17 13:59:25 · answer #3 · answered by quantumclaustrophobe 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A qualified guess would be many thousands of years - if ever. The fastest man-made object to leave the solar system was NASA's voyagers 1 and 2. if they went toward Alpha Cen (which they're not), it would take 60 to 100,000 years.
There's some sci-fi authors (notably Abdul Ahad) who have charted a generation ark voyage of 50,000 years :D
2007-08-18 08:28:18 · answer #4 · answered by Dominion 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The day we will find a way to travel faster than the speed of light. Even at the speed of light, can you imagine having to spend 3 years in a spaceship and that's just to get there, 6-7 years for a roundtrip.
We really need a way to get faster than the speed of light and not just 2-3 times faster, if we want to ever explore past our own solar system.
2007-08-17 13:47:10 · answer #5 · answered by Kaynos 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe it is only a matter of time, time it takes to get there and by the time we come up with propulsion faster than the speed of light. 4 light years is very very far away. One light year is 12,000000000000 km. And as for technology, if we can break the speed of sound i believe our race will develop the technology needed to explore the galaxy.
2007-08-20 00:57:46 · answer #6 · answered by Friend of a friend.. 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A few thousand years at least.
2007-08-17 13:38:18 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
thers life out there i guess..but its too far..about 4 light years away..humans should study and use UFO propulsion to get there...:D
2007-08-17 13:36:35 · answer #8 · answered by shoCkey 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋