re: #123 joncelli

As to the Kepler mission…I didn’t think we’d discover planets around other stars in my lifetime, much less earth-like planets around other stars. If we were to find one, I could die a happy man. If we were to find a way to send a probe to one at something near the speed of light (or as near as we could get) I would be ecstatic.

Odds are any such planet would be at least 50 light years away, and the best speed we could make with a probe might be 1/10 the speed of light, so don’t hold your breath.

Of course we could send them laser/radio messages at the speed of light, assuming there’s anyone there listening, and caring. Just our luck if they then turn out to have warp drive themselves, and an insatiable appetite for two-legged, loud-mouthed mammals.