Scientists recently discovered a planet which they believe has many of the same characteristics of Earth: proximity to a star, holds water, thick atmosphere, moderate temperature range, etc. This may be helpful for colonization when we destroy our own planet, goes the thinking. One minor concern - it is 400 light years away.
So either we discover how to travel at light speed, 186,282 mi/second or 670,615,200 mph, in which case our ETA is still 400 years.
light speed - 186,282 miles per second
distance travelled in one year at that speed = 5,878,625,373,184 (a "light year")
400 light years = 2,351,450,149,273,600 miles (yes that's 2.4 quadrillion, or 2,351 trillion miles)
This would require forced, multi-generational family planning in-flight - the ultimate mile-high club - for a time spanning from the original Jamestown colony to now.
Short of travelling at light speed let's assume some improvement on modern technology. The Space Shuttle (r.i.p.) tops out at 27,000 mph. Let's just about double that for grins and say we can move along at 50,000 mph. In that scenario it would take us 5,364,922 years to land on Earth2. Make sure the kids go potty before we leave!
So many things to consider, but the first that comes to mind is any scenario requires multiple generations of travellers. Since the human race literally depends on its success many very interesting dynamics arise. Like will there be designated "re-population" rooms, or will that be left to the spontaneity of the human spirit? What about over population? Resources will be precious and renewability will be limited so what happens when a human's usefullness is exhausted at, say, age 60? What about education? Ideally the original population would include scientists and doctors but how can one assure that knowledge will be transferred to successive generations? Also keep in mind that whatever knowledge they leave with will be the only information they have, forever. The exception would be of course their own imagination which I suspect will become increasingly limited given the paucity of any external sensory experiences. Any potential Isaac Newton on board will not have an apple tree to sit under.
And worse of all, if we know one thing about humans it is that they will find a way to make weapons and go to war with one another. That is a certainty.
Another certainty is that this project will never, ever work. It is the ultimate departure from God's plan. It isn't that He would doom it to failure out of jealousy or spite. It is that mankind simply does not have the ability to function on our own, in His absence. If there is any truth it is this, when we labor to become God's of our own destiny we have already failed.
Besides, we have great BBQ on this planet. We need to figure out a way to continue the good thing we've got going.
