The question is how certain are you that you know what 'today's tech' is really capable of?
The question is how certain are you that you know what 'today's tech' is really capable of?
Maybe once we build AIs and they go through the "singularity" where they learn to program and improve themselves, maybe they will become smart enough to create FTL travel. The singularity shouldn't be too far off.
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"This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can."
-- Capt. Copeland
But... how do you send the information back ?
Current tech is barely going to ISS and back. Going to another star is way beyond "current tech"...
Well... Laser sails could be built in 20-25 years, and get there in about 25 years, and send back data in about 4 years if I remember correctly was just reading yesterday.
Thats not about sending people though. Not yet at least.It involves shining a powerful laser beam on a large "sail" to push the spacecraft forward. The concept is simple, but has the potential to generate very high velocities up to half the speed of light and beyond. Milner's tiny craft, each weighing less than a gram, would be accelerated to 20% of light speed, making it possible to reach Proxima Centauri in 20 to 25 years.