Interstellar Expansion WITHOUT Faster Than Light Travel

About this episode

The episode explores the concept of interstellar travel without faster-than-light technology, focusing on the idea of generation ships.

Watch Space: The Longest Goodbye on Independent Lens: https://pbs.org/longestgoodbye In the far future we may have advanced propulsion technologies like matter-antimatter engines and compact fusion drives that allow humans to travel to other stars on timescales shorter than their own lives. But what if those technologies never materialize? Are we imprisoned by the vastness of space—doomed to remain in the solar system of our origin? Perhaps not. A possible path to a contemporary cosmic dream may just be to build a ship which can support human life for several generations; a so-called generation ship. Sign Up on Patreon to get access to the Space Time Discord! https://www.patreon.com/pbsspacetime Check out the Space Time Merch Store https://www.pbsspacetime.com/shop Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements! https://mailchi.mp/1a6eb8f2717d/spacetime Search the Entire Space Time Library Here: https://search.pbsspacetime.com/ Senior Creative Producer (ITVS): Andrea Bloom Creative Director (ITVS): Carol Paik Executive Producers (ITVS): Carrie Lozano, Lois Vossen Vice President, Marketing and Communications (ITVS): Lisa Tawil Original…

People in this episode

Host: Matt O'Dowd

Topics covered

• interstellar travel
• generation ships
• propulsion technologies
• space exploration
• human life support
• cosmic dreams

Keywords

• interstellar expansion
• faster than light
• generation ship
• propulsion
• space travel
• human life
• cosmic exploration

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: PBS, ITVS, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Acton Family Giving, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts

Books & works: Space: The Longest Goodbye

Places: solar system

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