The great explores who came to the new world in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries came on massive sail boats. They could have paddled but that would have taken to long. Steam engines had not yet been invented, nor would they for along time, but this did not stop humankind. Rather than wait around for better things to be invented people used the powerful winds to carry them across the large unknown waters.
Today we could set out on a long slow journey across the galaxy, but with current technology it would take us much to long to get anywhere. Much like the ancient explorers trying to reach the new world by paddling.
We could wait around possibly centuries for better technologies such as a warp drive type device. Or we can do as our fore fathers. Use the power of the wind to carry us across the immense divide between us and other stars.
Engineers and scientists are currently exploring the possibility of creating space ships with large wing like sails. In the same way that the sails of a sailboat catch the Earths winds, the sails of these space craft would catch the Solar Winds of the Sun, and whisk them to other stars.
The larger the sail the faster the craft would be able to travel, if large enough it would be able to reach amazing speeds. Perhaps even light speed.
Just as we study Christopher Columbus's' discovery of America using the limited technology of the times it is likely that five hundred years from now our descendants will look at us, and marvel at the discovery of literally a new world.
And just like today where one can now travel from the East to the West in a matter of hours perhaps in the future we will have technology which will allow people to be transported from one planet to another in a matter of hours. |
