How Big Would a Generation Ship Need to be to Keep a Crew of 500 Alive for the Journey to Another Star?

Interior view of an O'Neill Cylinder. There are alternating strips of livable surface and "windows" to let light in. Image: Rick Guidice, NASA Ames Research Center

There’s no two ways about it, the Universe is an extremely big place! And thanks to the limitations placed upon us by Special Relativity, traveling to even the closest star systems could take millennia. As we addressed in a previous article, the estimated travel time to the nearest star system (Alpha Centauri) could take anywhere from 19,000 to 81,000 years using conventional methods.

For this reason, many theorists have recommended that humanity should rely on generation ships to spread the seed of humanity among the stars. Naturally, such a project presents many challenges, not the least of which is how large a spacecraft would need to be to sustain a multi-generational crew. In a new study, a team of international scientists addressed this very question and determined that a lot of interior space would be needed!

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Astronomy Cast Ep. 455: Your Practical Guide to Colonizing the Milky Way!

This episode was recorded live in St. Louis, MO at the Astronomy Cast Solar Eclipse Escape 2017, so there’s only audio, no video. Listen here at Astronomy Cast as we discuss how humans might be able to colonize the Milky Way!

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