Interstellar travel

Interstellar space travel is manned or unmanned travel between stars. Interstellar travel is much more difficult than travel within the Solar System, though travel in starships is a staple of science fiction. Actually, there is no suitable technology at present.^[1] However, the idea of a probe with an ion engine has been studied. The energy would come through a laser base station.^[2]

Given sufficient travel time and engineering work, both unmanned and sleeper ship interstellar travel seem possible. Both present considerable technological and economic challenges which are unlikely to be met in the near future, particularly for manned probes. NASA, ESA and other space agencies have done research into these topics for several years, and have worked out some theoretical approaches.

Energy requirements appear to make interstellar travel impractical for "generation ships", but less so for heavily shielded sleeper ships.^[3]

1. ↑ "Project Daedalus - Origins". 26 October 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-10-26.
2. ↑ "Лендис. Межзвездный ионный зонд, снабжаемый энергией по лазерному лучу". go2starss.narod.ru.
3. ↑ O’Neill, Ian (2008). "Interstellar travel may remain in science fiction". Universe Today.