if the human race wants to achieve inter stellar space travel doesn't genetic engineering have to be the answe

if it would take 100,000 thousand years to cross our own galaxy at the speed of light and scientists have already discovered the gene of longtivity are we as humans slowing down the inevitable by not allowing genetic engineering, i know many people think its interfering with god.but im sure its happening in a base under ground somewhere they say they can make humans more inteligent ,stronger be able to withstand extreme cold tempratures ,be more beautiful, mathmatical geniuses,and live longer all rolled into one ,is this not what we need to achieve inter staller space travel is it not the way forward it will be the first time in the human race that humans could take evolution into there own hands and create the super human race to benifit for all on planet earth
yes many hurdles both spiritually and academically
to second answer well then maby god is an alien
answer no 3
sounds a bit like the matrix but how could you live forever in a computer on earth if earth is eventually destroyed

This among other things... Including Planetary peace between all of the cultures on this world... We need to unite in order to fund/ support a project as ambitious as interplanetary space travel...

Read about the Tower of Babel. Men who have put their minds to go beyond what God has set in motion will come to the results of Sodom....

There is no reason to believe genetic engineering can provide immortality. Immortality is what is required as well as 100% closed environmental systems, propulsion systems and power systems that do not require fuel, and a way to avoid being destroyed by the occasional piece of space debris. Without these advances interstellar trips are not realistic.

I have an alternative. Computer capabilities are expanding rapidly. In the not too distant future it might be possible to construct an artificial reality universe. Perhaps your consciousness could be downloaded into that universe. Presto, you are immortal and as omnipotent as you want to be. The entire population could be downloaded into the system and it could be moved to a secure location in interstellar space where it could not be destroyed by the sun. I have no idea whether human consciousness could be downloaded into a machine but it has to be simpler than interstellar travel.

Why would you care about something like this? You're not going to be given any of these perks unless you're part of the elite. Are you an elite? Probably not, so you'll only be experiencing something like this in your dreams, sorry, don't mean to be a downer i just like to keep in touch with reality, god doesn't like it when people try to be like him anyway.

Due to relativistic effects, the astronauts won't see hundreds of years passing to get to another star.

Check this URL:
http://theory.uwinnipeg.ca/mod_tech/node140.html

Even more interesting is that you could reach the center of our galaxy in only 20 of your years aboard such a high-speed rocket. Check this URL:
http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/SR/rocket.html

As far as interfering with God, remember that folks used to be banished from the Church - and much worse - for even suggesting that the earth was not the center of the universe. Yet the same type folks are happily using their cell-phones and satellite positioning devices .... go figure.


Best regards,
Jim

Cryogenics could be an alternative to genetic enhancement that would allow for long space voyages. One thing to remember is that according to relativity, the passage of time and the distances between points are both relative. They depend on your frame of reference. Its actually possible to get to the nearest star or across the galaxy very quickly from the point of view of the people on board a starship. As long as they can provide enough fuel, they can get across the galaxy in less than 100,000 years from their point of view. Light takes 100,000 years to cross the galaxy from the Earth's frame of reference. From the light's point of view it takes no time at all. The distance between two stars will appear shorter depending on how fast you're moving. The faster you go, the shorter the distance to the star you're going to. If you could go at the speed of light, the distance would be zero. The only problem is that the faster you go, the greater the amount of time that will have passed on Earth by the time you get back. Assuming you had an enormous supply of energy, you might get to a distant star and back within ten years from your point of view, but by the time you got back to Earth a million years might have passed here. Even if you could find astronauts who were willing to give up their lives here and go to the nearest star, they would face other problems. Radiation would be the biggest hurdle to overcome. The faster you go, the faster interstellar particles will appear to be moving. Interstellar hydrogen atoms would act as radiation to a really fast moving ship and would cook the people on board. Our best bet would be to send robots to the stars to explore. Maybe instead of genetic engineering, we should just download our brains into robotic bodies. I'd be worried about the genetically enhanced people trying to pull the same thing that Hitler did and trying to irradicate all the normal "genetically inferior" humans.