How and when will we travel to another Galaxy?

How and when will we travel to another Galaxy?

Intergalactic Travel

Will we find a new home soon?

Astronomers are spreading to all parts of the space these days. Efforts are being made to support longer missions so that manned spacecraft could be sent to the far-off destinations. For example, different satellites are orbiting around planets like Neptune but no man has ever gone that far in the space. Science did discover that there are hundreds and thousands of other galaxies in the universe other than the Milky Way.

Since that moment, an idea has circulated the scientific world which is to travel to a neighboring galaxy. The name given to that phenomenon is ‘Intergalactic Travel’. Such a journey is limited to the hypothesis, speculation and, science fiction at least for now due to several reasons.

The first and the most obvious one is the ‘Distance’. The estimated distance between Milky Way and the closest galaxies is hundreds of thousands to millions of light years. This vast separation makes it an impossible journey for humans, at least with the technology we have these days. The extent of difficulty can be judged by the fact that intergalactic distances are hundred thousand times more than the interstellar counterparts.

The speed of journey will have to match the speed of light if we want to complete it in reasonable amounts of time because regular flight will take millions of years. Another factor that will need quite a lot of working is the durability of the spaceship. The temperatures of space can fluctuate spontaneously and it can have disastrous effects on the spacecraft if it is not designed properly.

Despite these factors, researchers believe that as the journey is possible theoretically, there will be ways for making it a reality in the future. A lot of people study this field very seriously and that is the reason a handful of probable ways of traveling to other galaxies have come forward.

The efforts done by the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) hold quite a lot of significance. They made their first attempt to invade space in 1939 but failed to succeed as the technology of that time didn’t come to their aid. BIS is still functional and people working there are very hopeful that humans will reach a different star system by the end of this century.

Alpha Centauri is the basis of this claim. It is about 4.4 light years away from the center of our Solar System. An object moving at 10% of the speed of light can complete this journey in about 44 years. However, things are not that simple. The fastest object that the humans know moved at a speed of 38,610 miles per hour. One-tenth of the speed of light means that we will need to develop a spacecraft that can move at 18,628 miles per second. Attaining such a speed is possible only through continuous nuclear push.

This is exactly what was proposed by Freeman Dyson as his team made a spacecraft called ‘Orion’. It had the capacity to carry thousands of nuclear bombs and Dyson said that detonating them one after another will provide the necessary thrust to the craft. This inter-stars journey could prove to be the first step towards a travel to another galaxy.

There are several other propositions as well. One of them is ‘Hypervelocity Stars’. Many theories say that some stars having more speed than the escape velocity of the Milky Way are traveling out into intergalactic space. Following this knowledge, different mechanisms have been put forward to make an intergalactic journey through them. Supernova explosion in the binary system and star ejection from the supermassive black hole are some common solutions.

When an object moves at the speed of light, Time Dilation takes place. This shortens the time needed to travel to another galaxy with respect to the traveler. This phenomenon gives hope to the scientists that intergalactic travel is possible for humans. A common example that is quoted in this regard is that Andromeda Galaxy is 2 million light years away but it would take just 28 years for the astronaut. However, the requirements of fuel become unrealistic for such a journey.

The amount of acceleration needed will require 4,100,000 kg of fuel per kg of payload. The weight of fuel adds to the payload hence alternate means of collecting fuel on the way will have to be arranged. Even if all this is managed somehow, an intergalactic travel is expected to happen in the next century.

4 Replies to “How and when will we travel to another Galaxy?”

  1. Maybe they have no clue as to what Electrogravitics and Field Propulsion is. Defense Scientists and Engineers are finally starting to understand the ultimate propulsion system that can make instantaneous space travel possible. The UFOs use this propulsion system to travel great distances instantaneously.

    The speed of light is 670,000,000 miles per hour – a number no human being can ever stand in any craft for a long time. Does that mean UFOs are unmanned or extra-terrestrial beings are totally different? It is possible but not likely.

  2. The means will be obtained to negate the time reference and enable instantaneous travel.

  3. What an astonishing bunch of rubbish. If anyone ever happens upon this article, please do a little research and go find actual science based information.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *