There are more than 5,000 confirmed exoplanets in our galaxy. That number is going to rise significantly in the next decade. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has already cataloged more than 4,000 candidate exoplanets, and the PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) is scheduled to launch in 2026.
  • KindleGem@futurology.todayEnglish
    0·
    10 months ago

    Tbh, for our generation i don’t think it even matters, since we ain’t getting there anyway. These exoplanets are 10’s if not 100’s of lightyears away and theres no guarantee that any of them are even habitable.

    Even for getting to proxima centuari, 4.2 lightyears away and the nearest star to earth, the most optimistic thing I’ve heard is “we could maybe get the travel time down to 80 years if (and big if) we travel at 10% lightspeed”.

    Now imagine how we’re going to get to an exoplanet even 30 lightyears away.

    The reality is our generation was simply born too early for many of the things talked about in futurist circles.

    • winky88@startrek.websiteEnglish
      11·
      10 months ago

      He says, typing from a computer for which the underlying concepts were formulated long before he was born and are only now coming to fruition long after the inventors have passed.

      Science and technology are never driven by an “only if I see the benefit” mentality. Progress is a gift to all mankind.