How fast spaceship travel

This speed limit makes it unlikely that humans will ever be able to send spacecraft to explore beyond our local area of the Milky Way.

The catch is that his scheme requires vast amounts of energy and it may not be able to propel a spacecraft.

Lentz proposes that conventional energy sources could be capable of arranging the structure of space—time in the form of a soliton — a robust singular wave. Unlike objects within space—time, space—time itself can bend, expand or warp at any speed. He adds that to be practical, this requirement would have to be reduced by about 30 orders of magnitude to be on par with the output of a modern nuclear fission reactor. Lentz is currently exploring existing energy-saving schemes to see if the energy required can be reduced to a practical level.

Any warp drive would also need to overcome several other serious issues. Lentz describes his calculations in Classical and Quantum Gravity , where other recent research on the topic is outlined in an accepted manuscript from Advanced Propulsion Laboratory researchers Alexey Bobrick and Gianni Martire.

Though he recognizes these huge hurdles to building a warp drive, Lentz feels they are not insurmountable. Close search menu Submit search Type to search. So, are you a fan of sci-fi movies or TV shows?

Are you interested in complex physics and love the idea of traveling to distant planets and galaxies? Does the prospect of interstellar travel make you excited? Many of us dream of a future in which humans can travel anywhere in the universe. Thankfully, that future is only getting closer. Recently, space travel technology has seen a boom in funding and innovation. Elon Musk and his team at SpaceX keep breaking record after record.

Independently, Lentz also proposed a solution that does not require negative energy. It is essential to point out that these exciting developments are mathematical models.

Yet, the science of warp drives is coming into view. As a science fiction fan, I welcome all this innovative thinking. In the words of Captain Picard , things are only impossible until they are not. Receive news, sky-event information, observing tips, and more from Astronomy's weekly email newsletter. View our Privacy Policy. By signing up you may also receive reader surveys and occasional special offers. We do not sell, rent or trade our email lists.

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Last chance to join our Costa Rica Star Party! Learn about the Moon in a great new book New book chronicles the space program. Dave's Universe Year of Pluto. Groups Why Join? Astronomy Day. The Complete Star Atlas. If humanity wants to travel between stars, people are going to need to travel faster than light.

New research suggests that it might be possible to build warp drives and beat the galactic speed limit. Faster than light travel is the only way humans could ever get to other stars in a reasonable amount of time.