(ORDO NEWS) — NASA researchers recently announced the discovery of an Earth-sized planet 100 light-years away that could be habitable.
Will this new discovery lead to humans one day going to planet TOI 700 e?
“It won’t happen in our lifetime, but it’s interesting to discuss,” says Dr. Hank Pernika, professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Missouri.
“This planet is 100 light years away from us. This means that if we were to develop a spacecraft capable of reaching the speed of light, it would still take 100 years to reach this place.”
The speed of light is approximately 300,000 kilometers per second. Pernika says the first issue to consider would be to create a vehicle capable of reaching the speeds required for interstellar travel.
It would also be necessary to take into account all the uncertainties associated with the spacecraft.
“There are a lot of variables to consider when driving at these speeds,” he says. “For example, even a small piece of debris in the path of a spacecraft can do a lot of damage.”
It is also necessary to resolve the issue of refueling the spacecraft with fuel. Currently, any NASA-sponsored long-range missions use nuclear power, but this source of fuel will eventually be exhausted.
For example, Voyager 1, which was launched in 1977 and went into interstellar space, will run out of fuel in the next few years.
This space probe, which is moving at about 60,000 kilometers per hour, is now more than 23.8 billion kilometers from Earth.
“Voyager 1 has made an amazing journey and exceeded all of NASA’s expectations,” says Pernika. “However, it’s still far from a distance of even one light year.”
Pernika says the key to achieving the necessary speeds may lie in the concept of solar sailing. It will propel spaceships using solar radiation pressure.
Another option would be to use a wormhole. However, none of these methods will be possible in the near future.
Even though interstellar tourists and space probes won’t be heading to planet TOI 700 e anytime soon, Pernika is still hopeful for the future of space travel and the contributions of the Missouri Research Center, where a variety of space exploration projects take place.
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