Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

If at some point in time, we (humans) do decide to start sending people to explore deep space, is it theoretically possible to have anything or anyone travel at the speed of light? Is it just a question of producing enough force, or is it physically impossible? What is the closest technology we have with the capability to be advanced to the point of being able to travel at the speed of light? Also, I have seen plenty of articles saying that we could have humans on Mars by the early 2030's, is that really a probable timeframe for such an accomplishment?

Hi NMID,

Is your question related to a science fair project? If so, what is the hypothesis you are trying to test? If not, then your questions (as interesting as they are) would be better suited to a different set of online forums.

Hey tdaly! Thanks for responding! My this is for a research paper, not a science fair project, but the hypothesis is: Is it Possible for Humans to Colonize the Universe?

Hi NMID,

You can find a lot of information about these topics through internet searches. Because you are working on a research paper, I would encourage you to dig into some of the resources and information available there. However, you will need to carefully evaluate the reliability of different sources you encounter.

For example, a Google search for "Is it Possible for Humans to Colonize the Universe?" returns this Scientific American article: https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... ilky-way1/

A search for "is it theoretically possible to have anything or anyone travel at the speed of light?" leads to this FAQ page from the physics department at Virginia Tech.
http://www.phys.vt.edu/~jhs/faq/sr.html

Both Scientific American and Virgina Tech are relatively reliable sources. Other reliable sources include encyclopedias, the website of government organizations like NASA, and universities.