Science fiction romanticizes space travel, but what it really romanticizes is traveling to other worlds and finding alien creatures. Space itself is not particularly romantic and is perhaps best described as "the big empty." Really, really empty. The nearest star is about 4.2 light-years away, and the nearest large spiral galaxy is about 2.5 million light-years away. Between these things is an almost unimaginable amount of nothing, which is not the least bit romantic or exciting. Traveling to another star requires so much energy that it is close to impossible, or at least impractical with our current technology. There are also many problems and dangers. I don't see us traveling to another star for at least a few thousand years. Fortunately, there is plenty to explore within our own solar system.
No comments:
Post a Comment