Interstellar Travel - Will it ever happen?

[tk149]

Originally posted by: EarthwormJim
Question:

Does it actually take 4.4 years for a traveler going at the speed of light or near it, to get to Alpha Centauri? Or is that 4.4 years from our perspective and not from the travler's (so to them it's less than 4.4 years)?

In your example, the traveler would experience 4.4 years. Because of relativity, people on Earth would experience a MUCH longer time. I'm not sure how much. Can anyone else work out the math?

 

[TheShiz]

Originally posted by: tk149

Originally posted by: EarthwormJim
Question:

Does it actually take 4.4 years for a traveler going at the speed of light or near it, to get to Alpha Centauri? Or is that 4.4 years from our perspective and not from the travler's (so to them it's less than 4.4 years)?

In your example, the traveler would experience 4.4 years. Because of relativity, people on Earth would experience a MUCH longer time. I'm not sure how much. Can anyone else work out the math?

the amount of time that would pass on earth is exponential to how fast the traveler goes. if he goes very close to the speed of light as compared to maybe 50% the speed of light, much more time will have passed on earth in the first example than the second one. this makes absolutely no sense to our common experience on earth!

pretty good explaination of what i just said