The Difficulties of Interstellar Travel
The main challenge facing interstellar travel is the vast distances that have to be covered. This means that a very great speed and/or a very long travel time is needed. The time it takes with most realistic propulsion methods would be from decades to millennia. Hence an interstellar ship would be much more severely exposed to the hazards found in interplanetary travel, including vacuum, radiation, weightlessness, and micrometeoroids. The long travel times make it difficult to design manned missions. The fundamental limits of space-time present another challenge. Furthermore, it is difficult to foresee interstellar trips being justified for conventional economic reasons.
Read more about this topic: Interstellar Travel
Famous quotes containing the words difficulties and/or travel:
“Let us consider that we are all partially insane. It will explain us to each other; it will unriddle many riddles; it will make clear and simple many things which are involved in haunting and harassing difficulties and obscurities now.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“Those craning birds are choice for you, songs that jump back
To the built voice, or fly with winter to the bells,
But do not travel down dumb wind like prodigals.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)