When will we become Galactic?

[Empirica]

Question: How long until Homo Sapiens develop the technology to launch us out of our solar system and into the Milky Way?

Providing we don't become victims of some worldwide apocalypse or we just wipe ourselves out with our own brazen stupidity.

Or go to bed on Earth and awake on Planet Dystopia to a government more concerned with advancing itself than technology.

Authoritarians have no use for technology that has no application to government growth, power and control over the masses.

 

[Mr Person]

There's no "other".

Other:

"Never; "physics" doesn't allow it." if and only if it allows it, we don't wipe ourselves out first, and our first contact with aliens is not an outcome-determined catastrophe (meaning no matter what we do in response).

Or we do but not as homo sapien: we develop tech for interstellar travel that involves basically launching us at another system with an insanely complex set of calculations tracking paths of every single thing over the time of the journey and their gravitational effect - LOL, like we can even see it all - and whatever maneuvering fuel we manage. We also need something like suspended animation and who knows what else. We get there, we settle. We beat the one in a gazillion odds of not just surviving, but establishing a growing civilization...

.....except the people who were in cryo are homo sapien, but Earth is either wiped out or populated by whatever homo sapien evolves into. Ditto for every colony. And 'member, communication is light speed and probably takes quite a bit of energy to make sure what is received makes some kind of sense.


Absent being wrong about physics in some massively important ways, the second is the only hope. We spread out, but not as one "us". Racists gonna hate that shit.




Then there's the whole "meeting other civilizations". That's only possible with the first option. Otherwise any meeting will be between Gods and insects who probably can't either recognize each other as anything, and that at an absurdly low probablity.... say one in 10^20.....or basically something that only would happen if you replayed this universe from start until now roughly several thousand times. Then maybe you could expect it to happen once.

Why worry about it? We should aim for it, but we aren't going to see it. If we see anything, it's almost certain to be them coming to us, and I think the probability of a good outcome is - despite the arc of civilization on Earth - catastrophically low.

womp-womp



But maybe this will show up and its occupants break the rules we made up for them, showering us with goodies that we miraculously don't use to kill ourselves:

 

[Mr Person]

I just wanna make sure we all understand...

Look up travel speeds and distances within the solar system. Look up the local galactic map, say, up to 50 light years. Make sure you understand what 50 light years means. The only way this happens is with sci-fi magic.


Ignoring things like habitability based on what we know, Proxima Centauri is 4.246ish light years away. Look up the speed of light per second. Bang your head on a calculator. Glance at some stuff about relativity. Now understand what happens to relative passage of time between two points in spacetime even if we could get up to a reasonable fraction of the speed of light, and measure that using the 4.246ish light years away business.

How much on Earth vs. how much for the crew? Yeah, we're not getting there, and if we do Earth won't have homo sapien on it when they do. Give us ten miracles and we can spread out, but no Earth Empire without that sweet sci-fi magic.

 

[trouble13]

What I envision is that before we can leave this solar system we must first learn how to colonize cities that orbit around the outer belt of planets.

Once we have accomplished that we can begin thinking about building cities that can travel to other solar systems. Using our current technology; the length of the trip would be multi-generational.

They will also need to solve the problem of having enough water on the trip.

I have no idea how long it will take to solve these problems but I think are most likely more than 100 years away from seeing that reality, if ever.

 

[noonereal]

How long till a live human is launched out of the solar system into the Milky Way?​

Could happen sooner than people think if my significant does not STFU!

 

[noonereal]

What I envision is that before we can leave this solar system we must first learn how to colonize cities that orbit around the outer belt of planets.

Once we have accomplished that we can begin thinking about building cities that can travel to other solar systems. Using our current technology; the length of the trip would be multi-generational.

They will also need to solve the problem of having enough water on the trip.

I have no idea how long it will take to solve these problems but I think are most likely more than 100 years away from seeing that reality, if ever.

First things first. We need colonies on Mars.

 

[Argent]

Good grief, having humanity, as it now exists, venture into the cosmos would be a universe sized tragedy. Let us first focus our efforts on solving our problems on earth rather than pollute the universe.

 

[KevinKohler]

I Voted 300...with a caveat.

How are we defining "alive"?

Frozen...with, say, a 30% chance of being brought out alive? If that's considered alive...then, I say earlier than 300 years.

 

[Patriotic Voter]

Question: How long until Homo Sapiens develop the technology to launch us out of our solar system and into the Milky Way?

Wrong question. Our solar system is in the Milky Way, so it has already happened.

 

[Napoleon]

It’s never going to happen.

 

[HIP56948]

I voted 1000 years but the problems are insane. The distances are ridiculous. We humans throw around large numbers without truly understanding them.
A million seconds is 11 1/2 days. A billion seconds is over 31 3/4 years A trillion seconds is about, of course, 31,700 years.
The closest star, (excluding the Sun) is Proxima Centauri at about 5,880,000,000,000 miles or to put it into perspective> You're traveling a mile a second..You get from Florida to New York in around 17 minutes. You'll get to the closet star in around 187,000 years. THAT'S the guy right next door. Again, the distances are ridiculous.

 

[NolanVoyd]

Question: How long until Homo Sapiens develop the technology to launch us out of our solar system and into the Milky Way?

Providing we don't become victims of some worldwide apocalypse or we just wipe ourselves out with our own brazen stupidity.

Or go to bed on Earth and awake on Planet Dystopia to a government more concerned with advancing itself than technology.

Authoritarians have no use for technology that has no application to government growth, power and control over the masses.

We already achieved that in 1998. Or does this not count.

 

[Helix]

The distances are too vast. It's the same reason i don't believe that outer space aliens are flying their saucers here.

 

[calamity]

Question: How long until Homo Sapiens develop the technology to launch us out of our solar system and into the Milky Way?

Providing we don't become victims of some worldwide apocalypse or we just wipe ourselves out with our own brazen stupidity.

Or go to bed on Earth and awake on Planet Dystopia to a government more concerned with advancing itself than technology.

Authoritarians have no use for technology that has no application to government growth, power and control over the masses.

I'd never say never, but taking the easy out, it's safe to say, at least 100 years.

It took an unmanned ship only 10 years to reach Pluto. That's not bad. But, the nearest star system is 4 light years away. That's like 23 Trillion miles. Our fastest spaceship moves about 250,000 mph. So...

23,000,000,000,000miles/ (250,000 *24*365)miles/year = 10,500 years, give or take a toddler's age or two.

In other words, fat chance we're going anywhere soon.

 

[Argent]

The distances are too vast. It's the same reason i don't believe that outer space aliens are flying their saucers here.

Space/time is flexible; worm holes are theoretically possible. I think at some point in the distant future, we may be able to figure out a way to bend space/time or create wormholes that would shorten the distance between galactic points.

 

[SNOWFLAKE]

We better stay put, if we ventured out in to the cosmos with our mental attitudes, the other races out there would exterminate us for their own protection.

 

[calamity]

Space/time is flexible; worm holes are theoretically possible. I think at some point in the distant future, we may be able to figure out a way to bend space/time or create wormholes that would shorten the distance between galactic points.

There likely is something exploitable in a system where space expands faster than light. We are probably a long way from finding it though.

 

[Lursa]

I just wanna make sure we all understand...

Look up travel speeds and distances within the solar system. Look up the local galactic map, say, up to 50 light years. Make sure you understand what 50 light years means. The only way this happens is with sci-fi magic.

Carl Sagan managed to come up with something fairly "possible" that didnt break basic physics.

Ever read "Contact?" Fiction I know but a scientist like Sagan couldnt bring himself to just blatantly write fantasy.

 

[Mr Person]

Carl Sagan managed to come up with something fairly "possible" that didnt break basic physics.

Ever read "Contact?" Fiction I know but a scientist like Sagan couldnt bring himself to just blatantly write fantasy.

I hope I'm wrong both as to possibility and the fruition of risks. I'll have to remind myself of what Sagan said.


The pessimist in me rules.

 

[Jkca1]

Wrong question. Our solar system is in the Milky Way, so it has already happened.

NASA differs with you;

"The Milky way is our Galaxy;

"Our solar system consists of our star, the Sun, and everything bound to it by gravity — the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, dwarf planets such as Pluto, dozens of moons and millions of asteroids, comets and meteoroids." https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/our-solar-system/overview/

 

[Lursa]

I hope I'm wrong both as to possibility and the fruition of risks. I'll have to remind myself of what Sagan said.


The pessimist in me rules.

I havent read it in at least 20 yrs. When I remember the religious fanaticism and protests and ignorance in the book...I realize that the conservatives and much of the GOP have not progressed much, if at all.

It was a good read tho, I recommend.

 

[Patriotic Voter]

NASA differs with you;

"The Milky way is our Galaxy;

"Our solar system consists of our star, the Sun, and everything bound to it by gravity — the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, dwarf planets such as Pluto, dozens of moons and millions of asteroids, comets and meteoroids." https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/our-solar-system/overview/

So how am I wrong?

The OP was asking when a human will go beyond our solar system to the Milky Way, which can only mean that galaxy is not ours. Of course that makes the question wrong because we are in the Milky Way already.

 

[Helix]

Space/time is flexible; worm holes are theoretically possible. I think at some point in the distant future, we may be able to figure out a way to bend space/time or create wormholes that would shorten the distance between galactic points.

That's one way around the problem. Another way is the simulated universe theory. There could be cheat codes in that case. I just don't see it being achieved in a speed vs distance dynamic. Of course, our minds have trouble fathoming these kinds of distances, and I'm certainly not an astrophysicist.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

We're flying electric helicopters on Mars, but you can't turn on your electric clothes dryer in Texas.
That's because scientists are in charge of Mars, and Republicans are in charge of Texas.
And therein lies one of the chief reasons we may never become "galactic".
That and, at least half the human race is dumber than Louie "Bird Guts Everywhere!" Gohmert or Paul "Science is lies from the pit of Hell!" Broun

 

[Empirica]

I just wanna make sure we all understand...

Look up travel speeds and distances within the solar system. Look up the local galactic map, say, up to 50 light years. Make sure you understand what 50 light years means. The only way this happens is with sci-fi magic.


Ignoring things like habitability based on what we know, Proxima Centauri is 4.246ish light years away. Look up the speed of light per second. Bang your head on a calculator. Glance at some stuff about relativity. Now understand what happens to relative passage of time between two points in spacetime even if we could get up to a reasonable fraction of the speed of light, and measure that using the 4.246ish light years away business.

How much on Earth vs. how much for the crew? Yeah, we're not getting there, and if we do Earth won't have homo sapien on it when they do. Give us ten miracles and we can spread out, but no Earth Empire without that sweet sci-fi magic.

"Technology" is an insatiable monster that is all but impossible to stop or even slow down and it never sleeps.

It has a maniacal determination to exponentially grow ever bigger, faster and smarter by the minute and the mile.

I know it won't happen in my lifetime but I believe someday we'll conquer space and time to become Galactic Explorers.

The only question is; when?