How long would it take a spacecraft to travel to the nearest star, Proxima Centauri?
Proxima Centauri is 4.2 light-years from Earth and one light year is how long it takes light to travel in one year, which is nearly 6 trillion miles.
Let's pick the New Horizons spacecraft. Its mission was to do a planet flyby.
When it reached Pluto, it was traveling at a speed of 52,000 mph.
Going that fast it could reach 1.2 million miles per day, and 455 million miles in a year. At that speed, it would take 12,905 years to travel one light-year and 54,000 years to travel to Proxima Centauri.
#astronomy #astrophotography
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