How long would it take for an astronaut to reach the closest star?

Not including the Son. How far is the closest star by light years and how long would it take to get there. Please only answer this if you actually know. I don't want to hear "Really far" or "A long time" etc.How long would it take for an astronaut to reach the closest star?Well there are several issues at play here. First off, you mean “Sun” and not “Son”.



Secondly, we don’t have the current technology to send a human to Mars, let alone traverse light years to get to our nearest star.



Thirdly, the stars, like planets and the like, move. If we were to set out right now to the current nearest star: (Proxima Centauri @ 4.2421 light years away), and we zipped along at space shuttle like speeds (28165 km/h), it would take 162,651.54 years to get to there, at which time we’d be utterly dismayed to find out it’s moved, and thus still stuck in the middle of nowhere.



You’d also now be disheartened to find out that during that time, Proxima Centauri lost it’s distinction of even being the closest star to our own. Barnard's Star, for instance, will become the closest star relative to our own around AD 11,700, at a distance of 3.6 light years away.



After which, for a time, Proxima Centauri will reclaim it’s role, eventually getting as close as 3.11 Light years away before moving further away, and then having Ross 248 become the closest star relative to our own roughly 33 thousand years into the future.



Now, let’s suppose we manage to come up with a real nuclear engine, much like what they wanted to use for Project: Daedalus or Project: Longshot. Moving at velocities approaching 10% the speed of light, now we can get to Proxima Centauri in only 42 years.



Better yet, it’ll only seem like 37.2 years for our astronaut, thanks to the time dilation of going at that speed.



At 5%, which was more along the lines of what long shot was calling for, you’re looking at about a 100 one way ticket to Proxima Centauri. Thankfully it’ll only seem like 95 for our weary traveler.



Keep in mind this thought experiment has done nothing to talk about supplies, radiation shielding, possible cryogenics, or even that these propulsion systems have never been fully developed. We’re still too busy sending men up into near Earth orbit using glorified firecrackers.How long would it take for an astronaut to reach the closest star?
Proxima Centauri is, besides the sun, the closest star to Earth, with a distance of 4.2 light years. A modern space shuttle travels roughly around 18,000 miles per hour. The speed of light is 299,792,458 metres per hour.



Well, I can't do the math, but considering that any probe we've invented has just barely skimmed the edges of our solar system, you can only conclude that you would have to carry hundreds of generations of a family in order for one to be alive when they reach Proxima Centauri.How long would it take for an astronaut to reach the closest star?Depends on at what speed they travel, and whose frame of reference you're looking at.



Do you mean with current technology? With current technology, an astronaut would die of old age long before he reached the star. For example, the Voyager 1 space probe hasn't even left the solar system yet, and it's been flying for 32 years.



Now, if we could travel at a hefty fraction of the speed of light, the time would be shortened. Proxima Centauri is approximately 4.2 light years from Earth. What this means is traveling at near the speed of light, it'll take over 4 years to reach. This will be technologically improbable for the foreseeable future.



If we could manage 50% of the speed of light, which is still a big stretch, it would take 8.4 years to reach Proxima Centauri. However, for an astronaut inside the spacecraft, time would move more slowly due to time dilation. The astronaut would experience about 15% less time. According to the astronaut traveling at 50% of the speed of light, 7.27 years would have passed.How long would it take for an astronaut to reach the closest star?
Ultimately, that depends on how fast he's traveling. The solar system's nearest star is Proxima Centauri, which is roughly 4.2 light years away, or 40 trillion km (25 trillion miles). That means that it would take him about 4.2 years (in our perception of time; the astronaut would perceive time as moving faster) to get there if he was traveling at the speed of light, but that would be impossible -- nothing with mass can travel at those speeds. Some more reasonable speeds:



Current probe speeds (61,200kmph or 38,028mph): About 75,000 years.

Current shuttle speeds (28,968kmph or 18,000mph): About 158,000 years.

Traveling at road speeds (which average around 80kmph or 50mph): About 57,000,000 years.



So, basically, it's impossible for a human being to travel to Proxima Centauri within his or her lifetime with our current technology. It's unlikely that a space probe could even survive for that long.How long would it take for an astronaut to reach the closest star?Proxima Centauri.(Alpha Centauri system) is about 4.3 light-years away.



There are roughly 6 trillion miles in one light-year. This amounts to 25.8 trillion miles distance from Earth.



At the present time, conventional rockets take 6 months to travel 50 million miles.



It would currently take 1,548 years one way using today's conventional rockets.



Interstellar space has yet to be explored or analyzed. The Voyager probe should give us some information about interstellar space in the next 5 years.
That would be Barnard's star, Proxima Centauri, or Alpha Centauri. Any one would take about a few years (4?), traveling at light speed. (Alpha Centauri is actually 3 stars all clumped ito one, so the timing cannot be exact, unless you tell what star in the clump)How long would it take for an astronaut to reach the closest star?
an astronaut or an astronaut's cold dead corpse?



at the present time we lack that technology.



if you are REALLY interested in the subject, though, here is a link to some fascinating reading.



http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=655
did you mean the sun



but anyway...

spica is the closest and i think it's 3 light years away and that take a rrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…

aaalllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll…

llyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy… long timeHow long would it take for an astronaut to reach the closest star?
you cant our technology hasnt got that far yet, why would they goto a star they would die from the radiation anyway