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If you look up at the stars on a clear night, you will most likely be mesmerized by the sea of bright lights that make up the galaxy. The Milky Way alone is home to over 200 billion stars, most of which have more than one planet orbiting them. You don’t need to be a statistician to reasonably guess that at least one of these planets must be capable of supporting life. Getting to these planets is, however, an almost impossible feat that we may never be able to achieve, no matter how old our civilization gets.
Distance and Time
Distance is the most critical obstacle to interstellar travel. Star systems in the galactic space are usually located more than 3 light years away from each other. That’s over 20 trillion miles. Even the most advanced spaceships the earth can boast of will need more than 50,000 years of continuous travel to cover just those 3 light years. Our nearest neighbor in the galaxy, Alpha Centauri, is 4 years away, a distance that we cannot cover with existing technology. This most likely means that we shall remain stuck in our corner of the galaxy for our entire existence.
Limited Energy
Speed needs energy. The insanely fast speeds needed for interstellar travel need more energy than what our entire civilization uses in years. Even traveling at just 10% the speed of light needs more energy than what we use in a year. While such gigantic amounts of energy can be harnessed through fusion, no major advancements have been made in the field relating to space travel. We therefore just don't have the energy needed to shoot through the galaxy looking for habitable planets.
Space Hazards
But what if we could travel through space slowly, maybe over thousands of years, in a highly sophisticated spaceship that can recycle everything? Will we be sure to get to other stars? Most likely no. Empty galactic space is not without its dangers. Small dust particles and rocks travelling at high speeds can take out an entire spaceship. Yes, just dust can scuttle an entire mission. People in the spaceship will also be exposed to cosmic radiation without the magnetic shield of the earth. This will lead to mutations and even death for those who dare leave the earth behind.
Inhabitability
While thousands of planets have been discovered and documented, just a few, less than 10, have been confirmed to have conditions that can support life. The vast majority of planets have hellish conditions that can kill any living thing instantly. Most of the habitable planets discovered are more than 500 light-years away, a gigantic distance that means speeds that are hundreds of times faster than light will be needed. Any interstellar mission that is manned will no doubt be headed to a habitable planet. Unless we can find ways of propelling ships at speeds that surpass the speed of light by insane amounts, interstellar travel will remain out of reach.
Interstellar travel at this point in the history of our civilization appears to be impossible. There is simply no method we can use to leave the solar system and find habitable conditions elsewhere. The earth will remain our only home; let's do a better job of protecting it.
