Long before I knew what ideas for interstellar flight were out there in the literature, I always saw the idea of a trip between the stars in Homeric terms. It would be an epic journey that, like that of Odysseus, would resonate throughout human history and become the stuff of legend, even myth. In back of all that was the belief that any vehicle we could design that could carry people and not just instruments to the stars would be a ‘generation ship,’ in which the crew were born, raised their families, lived their lives and died while the ship, moving at maybe 1 percent of light speed, pressed on to destination.
Why travel at only one percent of the speed of light, when one can theoretically travel much faster? As far as traveling humans are concerned, the biggest problem with traveling away from Earth so fast, be it at one percent of the speed of light, or ninety plus percent of the speed of light, is something called time dilation (admittedly, there are other problems, but time dilation is still the biggest one for flesh and blood, conscious humans). Whether you're traveling at one percent, or ninety plus percent of the speed of light, you're still leaving everyone and everything you've known and loved behind, forever. And with humans being the social animals they are, leaving everything they've known and loved behind forever, does present some major problems. But humans are also exquisitely adaptable creatures, and they would very likely adapt to this as they have successfully adapted to so many other evolutionary challenges. So, you might as well travel as fast as you physically and safely can. Because when you're on a starship, it's all about you, baby. The more sights, experiences, and data you can pack into your still biologically limited life span, the better. Remember, you are bringing everything you know and are with you. You are both humanity's ambassador and exile. And you never know, you might encounter someone or something that could get you back home not long after you left.The importance of the time dilation issue cannot be overstated. It extends far beyond the formidable physical challenges of designing a functional stardrive, and a vessel to safely carry it and its human (and/or non-human AI) crew. It goes straight to the core of the human essence, and what it means to be human. This will be the subject of an upcoming feature article on Stardrive.
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