Sci-fi warp drives: A very real possibility

You may have seen Jolene’s recent article about proposed mechanisms for interstellar travel that are based on technologies available to us today (if not check it out at: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/?p=9110 ) The fastest current man-made object (Helios 2) will take 17-18 thousand years to reach our closest star, Proxima Centauri. But these space craft will reduce the journey time from millennia, down to only centuries. Several generations will pass during the trip, and it must be entirely self-sufficient – recycling all food, waste and air.

But what happens when we want to go farther? If we don’t destroy ourselves, one day in the future, our descendants (man or machine) will go in search of a new planet outside the solar system to colonize and live on. It is very unlikely that this will be anywhere near as close to us as Proxima Centauri, and so based on current technology it will still take us tens, or even hundreds, of thousands of years to reach these solar systems. Will future breakthroughs in science offer us a new key to alternative and faster ways to traverse space? As a result of the 100 Year Star-ship Symposium in 2012, the answer is a very hopefully, yes.

To learn more about the fantastic form of travel, see:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/sci-fi-warp-drives-a-very-real-possibility-ready-for-editing/

Image source:
http://www.andersoninstitute.com/alcubierre-warp-drive.html