An interstellar bummer

Maggie Koerth 8:09 am Thu Sep 15, 2011

I recently found out that, in 2050, when I am 69 years old, the Voyager 1 space craft will finally reach a distance of one single light-day away from the Earth.

Light will reach that point in 24 hours. A man-made jumble of electronics will have taken 73 years. At that rate, it'll be more than 26,000 years before Voyager has traveled a light-year away from us.

The nearest star is more than 4 light-years away. (And also in the wrong direction.)

These facts were making me feel a little overwhelmed and strangely sad. Reader David Radune on Google+ captured those feelings perfectly, in one sentence,"I don't think we're ever getting off this rock."

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