23. How could we take a trip that lasts years and make it last only a few months? Will that ever be possible? (A K2S Question)

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Science-fiction writers have often used novel methods to allow the characters in their books to travel very large distances in space in their lifetimes; otherwise the books would be very long and boring! There are two ways a very long trip could be made seemingly shorter— either by shortening the journey time by traveling very fast, beyond the realm of current technology, through warp drives or using worm holes, or by simply putting the astronauts into stasis or a deep sleep. This would mean the astronauts would not age during the trip and when they woke it would only have felt like a very short journey time to them, when in fact they would have been traveling for many years. Of course there are problems to overcome. If the control center back on Earth wants to remain in contact with the ship, it would have to be manned continually for what could be hundreds of years! Whether it's possible I cannot say. But I have a lot of faith in the ability of humans to overcome such hurdles, and I'm sure we will be able to one day explore the stars!

Answer provided by Hazel McAndrews


Image:K2S logosmall.jpg Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer


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