On Saturday, December 31, 2016 at 6:09:47 AM UTC-7, Chris.B wrote:

On Saturday, 31 December 2016 10:48:33 UTC+1, RichA wrote:

Earth-like? I'd believe it when they get there. Here's the travel time:

-Current rocket technology (if a large enough one could be built):
120,000mph. 25,000 years to get there.

-Project Orion 10,000 ton class ship: 80% speed of light peak speed.
14 years.

http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2016...d-orig-nws.cnn

Since the distance is effectively unmanageable one needs to "fix" the time
factor. It can only be a matter of time before time becomes malleable to
our devices.

Take a black hole with us and stay really, really close to it?

Develop Alcubierre warp drive?

Create a wormhole?

Develop Forward gravit0-magnetic slingshot technology (slowing down at the
other end may be a problem)

Find a brane where Alpha Centauri is only a few billion miles away?

Whether the rocket will "have time" to avoid high velocity dust particles
is another matter.

Or asteroid-size bodies in the Oort cloud!

Perhaps it won't matter since the journey would never involve covering
the entire distance at relativistic velocities.

One can only hope that an advanced civilization takes pity on us and gives
us a helping hand with interstellar travel.

The Vulcans require that we develop warp drive on our own. Perhaps the
Overlords? But that would happen only if our civilization were ending.

The question remains which factors are denying us this information already?
Imagine an advanced civilization looking at us now:
What could possibly convince you of our worthiness to be allowed off our
small, blue blob?

Cosmic censorship.

Take me to your leader?
Putin? Trump? Assad? Kim? Xi?
I wouldn't.

I'm afraid we'll just have to muddle through ....