The First Interstellar Spaceflight

NASA

To travel in the planetary system became possible in the 1970s. Humanity has however not reached further than to the Moon, one light second away. The next realistic target should be Mars, within  a couple of decades, even if there is not yet any established and financed plan for this. But to travel to the stars? That is light years away and is currently mainly limited to the realm of science fiction. And even there you have great problems to stay within valid physics.

This, however, does not deter optimistic and creative people from finding solutions for bridging the interstellar abyss. In fact, in the 1950s and 1960s there was much optimism about the future of space travel. The space race was at its height and some were planning for a journey to Mars in 1980. But since the successful visits to the Moon by American astronauts the further development of manned space flight has been very slow, for political and economical reasons.

But there are still optimists. The 100 Year Starship is such a group. Several methods for propelling an interstellar vehicle have been proposed. With enough patience and sufficient economical resources it is not an impossible undertaking, also within the limitations that current physics poses. But a necessary requirement is that the general public and hence the politicians become interested.

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