Café Inquiry (Online) – The Stars – Our Destination?

This event is held online. (Click the button to join the Zoom meeting.)

Will interstellar travel by humans ever happen? In movies, on TV, and in books people are flitting willy-nilly between star systems with seeming ease. But stars are really, really far away. Incomprehensibly far for brains evolved to deal with Earth distances. The nearest star to our sun – Proxima Centauri – is about 4.24 light years away. The probe Voyager 1, launched just over 45 years ago in September of 1977 and booking along at a speed of over 38,000 mph, is just short of 22 light HOURS away from Earth as I type this. Were it pointed in the right direction, it would reach Proxima in roughly 76,000 years. So obviously we’re not there yet – or even close.  For background, this 7-minute lighthearted video from Universe Today looks at some of the challenges of interstellar travel. This video, also from Universe Today, discusses travel at a constant 1g of acceleration and the vast distances that could be covered in a lifetime – with a slight catch. Just for fun, here’s a space travel calculator to help you estimate travel time and fuel requirements on your journey to the stars. Finally, this Universe Today article takes a look at the concept of a generation ship. Join us at the next Café Inquiry as we look at the feasibility of interstellar travel in terms of the technology that would be required, the obstacles and dangers that would need to be overcome, and the likelihood that we will ever colonize distant planets around other stars and how it might be done.

Café Inquiry starts with a short introduction of the day’s topic, followed by casual discussion.

This event is free and open to the public. Donations appreciated, but not expected.

Attendees are able to future propose topics which would align with Michigan Humanist’s purpose: from atheism, agnosticism, humanism, secularism, and freethinking to broader subjects in science and humanities, such as religion, philosophy, social issues, politics, evolution, morality, ethics, and psychology.

Café Inquiry (Grand Rapids) meets each month on the second and fourth Sunday.

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Michigan Humanists values the participation of all guests — requests for reasonable accommodation may be made by contacting the event host at least three days prior to the event.

Michigan Humanists expects all guests to engage in respectful discussion. Critiques on views and claims based on merit are allowed, but not attacks on individuals who hold other perspectives.

Any person engaging in disruptive behavior or harassment will be asked to leave, and may be banned from future events pending the severity of the action. Please speak to the event host or contact info@michiganhumanists.org if you feel these expectations are being violated.