(July 23, 2015 at 9:51 pm)Alex K Wrote:(July 23, 2015 at 7:22 pm)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote: That depends entirely on what fraction of c one is traveling and what reference frame you're using.
Counterintuitively, travelling 1000ly at 0.99c won't take anywhere near 1000 years for the passengers
141 years, actually
The thing is, you are not going to be able to start out that fast, and you will need to slow down at the other end. And if you accelerate or decelerate at a rate greater than 1 g, what will be the long-term affects on the passengers? And think of the energy necessary to bring a ship to such speeds, a ship that is going to be big enough for people and their provisions for a 141 year trip (which is assuming that you are going to be averaging 0.99c, correct?).
I don't think anyone is ever going to make such a trip. It seems too fantastical, even forgetting about BrianSoddingBoru4's list of issues, and forgetting about what is going to happen to your ship when you hit even a spec of dust at 0.99c.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
