Interstellar Travel: The Prospects of Exploring the Unexplorable

Interstellar space travel: the act of going beyond our solar system to reach our oh so familiar yet ever so distant companions in our galaxy — the stars. Now, we are already incredibly well acquainted with one star, which holds our entire solar system in its gravitational grasp. That star is, of course, our sun which provides us with the energy necessary to create and perpetuate life. Not to mention, it is 500 times more massive than every other planet in our solar system -- combined.

http://pics-about-space.com/star-sizes-compared-to-the-sun?p=1

 Now, to an observer of the night sky reliant solely on his/her own perception, the stars that pepper the night sky appear hobbit-like when compared to the sun. In truth, these stars appear so small by virtue of how far away they are from us. Our galaxy alone, let alone our universe, proves absolutely enormous. The 10 billion-to-one scale model is useful for beginning to conceptualize the massiveness of the galaxy and the distance between us and the stars we see at night sans the sun. The model reduces the moon earth system down to the size of our palm where as the closest star system would be all the way on the coast of California, from the east coast. The sun is, to be sure, an exceptional star by virtue of the fact that it gives way to life itself, but, in terms of size, the sun is a rather ordinary star dwarfed by some of the supergiant stars present in our galaxy . Still, there are larger stars visible to the naked eye and even larger ones that are not. All in all, there are over 100 BILLION stars in our galaxy.

http://wallpaperswide.com/galaxy_5-wallpapers.html

 With each star emerges the possibility for planets, moons and other celestial objects around them. NASA has already identified many planets with conditions similar to earth that reside around stars in our galaxy. In fact, just recently we discovered a new planet, Proxima Centauri B, that has a mass similar to earth's and orbits the sun at a habitable distance -- not to mention it orbits the star that is closest to us in distance (Click here to further explore this exciting development).  Interstellar travel could be the outlet through which we discover the answer to that vital question: are we alone in this universe. So, why have we not explored these leads further? One simple answer: sheer distance. Even the most familiar stars we see every single night range from fifty to one hundred light years away from earth. Currently, our fastest spacecrafts travel around 100,000 times slower than the speed of light, meaning that a voyage to the nearest star with our current technology would exhaust millenniums.

http://www.quotidianogiovanionline.it/Sceltipervoi/Esploso/12935/-Il-primo-vero-gemello-della-Terra

Now, when one thinks of the crowning achievements in the history of human space travel, their mind immediately flies towards Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon. As a species, we love to think about a physical human conquering the expanses of space by traveling through it. In the case of interstellar travel, we may have to turn to the movies to satiate this need. The practicality of human space travel has diminished rapidly over the past decades as technological innovation has ramped up exponentially. Humans are simply not well equipped for space travel; millions of years of evolution adapted our bodies and minds to earth and not space. We need food and water, emit waste, are extremely susceptible to radiation and, above all, require a return journey when our robotic friends require only a one way ticket. 

http://memeburn.com/2015/11/10-reasons-why-2001-a-space-odyssey-stands-as-the-best-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/

What does this mean for the future? One thing is certain: achieving interstellar travel would provide incredible insights into the nature of our galaxy and universe. As such, we are going to continue to strive towards the stars. As previously stated, our current spacecrafts are too slow to entertain Interstellar travel without planning that spans thousands and thousands of years into the future. Due to our finite resources, this type of undertaking is simply not practical. There are, however, alternate solutions that have been proposed by leading astrophysicists. While still in theoretical stages, these ideas and insights may be what propels us to the stars. For example, Freeman Dyson’s Orion Project aims to employ nuclear explosions, in combination with a pusher plate, to propel a spacecraft to incredible velocities, even nearing the speed of light. This project has been shrouded in controversy and divisive opinions, which you can explore further here. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propulsion)

 This engages Einstein’s fascinating Theory of Special Relativity which speculates that for an object traveling near the speed of light, time actually slows down. A person traveling at the speed of light for 100 years would only have aged the equivalent of 10 years on Earth. Stephen Hawking has proposed his own solution which involves accelerating stamp-sized probes to the speed of light with a super-laser. Finally, there is the potential solution explored in sci-fi films like “Interstellar” and “Star Trek”: the wormhole. Hypothetically, a wormhole would allow us to manipulate the very fabric of the time-space fabric and pop out to the other side of hole, bypassing light years of travel across or even out of the galaxy. 

Google Plus User Content

Here, however, there is much scientific debate on whether these wormholes even exist, if they can be navigated safely and stably, or if we can harness the energy necessary to engage or produce one. While much debate surround the validity and practicality of these methods, they are incredibly exciting to speculate about and follow. They may just hold the key to the safe containing the answers to our most inquisitive questions about our universe. If you want to explore this prospect beyond the realm of this blog, click here.