How Far is the Future?

Voyager 1 was launched in 1977. In 2012, it entered interstellar space. That’s only 45 years. Exciting, right? Technology has certainly advanced since then. Surely we will be able to journey to the stars eventually, right?

To pass through the Oort Cloud—the gargantuan sphere surrounding our solar system, which may consist of trillions of pieces of icy debris at least the size of Mt. Everest—will require at least another 30,000 years.

That’s three times the length of civilization itself.