12.06.06.1757
Okay, let’s assume that we one day achieve the means to travel at the speed of light, which is a feat in its own right and just as likely improbable of us to accomplish. Well for the moment let’s forget about that improbability and consider that we did it, we achieved the means of traveling at light speed; yay!
Okay, now what? We desire to colonize, right? Because by the time we probably would have achieved light speed travel, our planet would be having problems (population, ecology, etc.); problems so bad that we would have to put forth the effort to colonize. We could make a massive effort to colonize on Mars, and let’s assume for the moment that we did, but it’s going to take a shit-load of time to make the planet habitable for mass human colonization. We can’t wait that long, even though we already started. No, we need a ready-made planet at our fingertips that we can begin settling on and raping its resources of. Answer: Alpha Centauri!
Ahh, but here’s where it becomes crazy…
Alpha Centauri is 4.39 light years away (although Proxima Centauri is closer, it’s a red dwarf star and doesn’t pose a good prospect for having a stable planet for human colonization). Thus, we can do one of two things. We could send a probe out to Alpha Centauri in search for a habitable planet in its solar system, or we could build a ship to go look ourselves with.
The first option, while less risky, would take more time. We would have to wait for it to get there and then wait some more time for it to search the entire system for a habitable planet, or planets. Then, we would have to wait for the radio transmission to come back to us to let us know either we’ve struck gold or we’ve hit a wall. In any case, it would take about 12-15 years; maybe longer to find out the truth about Alpha Centauri.
The second option, is more risky, but under the assumption that we find a planet, we would already have a first colony ready to set up upon discovery. However, let’s consider that for a moment…
Could you imagine how big of a spacecraft we would have to construct to sustain a crew for four-some years and even then, have the equipment and even more supplies for the time it would take to search for a habitable planet, set up a base on that planet, and finally begin growing crops and what not for future survival? Of course, in the event that we would not find a habitable planet orbiting Alpha Centauri, we would need to supply that crew for the trip back home. Even upon discovering a planet, setting up a preliminary colony, and growing crops to test the survivability of the planet, we would still have to either send a probe back home or send the ship with a skeleton crew back. So, for good measure, we would need a ship capable of sustaining a crew for at least 12-15 years tops (assuming the discovery of a planet to colonize).
The 12-15 year suggestion is a variable (although we would definitely need 9 years for traveling there and back again)… who knows how many years it would take to search the system for a habitable planet. Could be 10 or 15 years… it’s impossible to calculate for sure to sustain the crew.
And yet, assuming we find a planet, what if it’s already inhabited by intelligent beings? We would then need a delegation of representatives able to come to some means of communication with the beings so that we could negotiate the colonizing of our people. The beings might either let us stay on their planet or direct us to another planet in the system. If we were denied colonization though, then it’s likely we would go to war.
Assuming we would go to war, our ship would need to return to Earth, explain the dilemma, and then prepare a fleet of warships and landing craft for mass extermination and annihilation of the species on the other planet. Either we wipe them out or force them to accept our control of their planet (occupation).
[size=150]So… is it really worth it?[/size]