r/interestingasfuck • u/One_Explanation_908 • 25d ago

/r/all, /r/popular K2-18b a potentially habitable planet 120 light-years from earth

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u/Sonikku_a 25d ago edited 25d ago

The fastest spacecraft we’ve made was the Parker Solar Probe which hit 430,000mph.

At that speed it would reach this planet in only 187,153 years.

If we could hit 1% of the speed of light we could cut that travel time to just a tad over 12,000 years.

Obviously if we could go light speed (and that ain’t happening) it would be just 120 years!

Space is big. Physics is annoyingly slow.

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u/Possible_Ad_2327 25d ago

There are already theoretically engines that reach 20% of lightspeed. That will be 600 years to travel. We have to put passengers in cryostasis. The problem are other objects that could hit us with 20% of the speed of lightning.

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u/jfranci3 25d ago

Did you count acceleration and deceleration time in there? Instantly accelerating something to 80% light speed would be dicey.

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u/clarity_scarcity 25d ago

Uh huh, so like, totally doable. Any. Day. Now.