Intergalactic travel

Core conceptsIntergalactic travel is hypothetical manned or unmanned travel between galaxies. Due to the enormous distances between our own galaxy the Milky Way and even its closest neighbors—hundreds of thousands to millions of light-years—any such venture would be far more technologically demanding than even interstellar travel. Intergalactic distances are roughly a hundred-thousandfold (five orders of magnitude) greater than their interstellar counterparts. Intergalactic travel is hypothetical manned or unmanned travel between galaxies. Due to the enormous distances between our own galaxy the Milky Way and even its closest neighbors—hundreds of thousands to millions of light-years—any such venture would be far more technologically demanding than even interstellar travel. Intergalactic distances are roughly a hundred-thousandfold (five orders of magnitude) greater than their interstellar counterparts. The technology required to travel between galaxies is far beyond humanity's present capabilities, and currently only the subject of speculation, hypothesis, and science fiction. However, theoretically speaking, there is nothing to conclusively indicate that intergalactic travel is impossible. There are several hypothesized methods of carrying out such a journey, and to date several academics have studied intergalactic travel in a serious manner. Due to the distances involved, any serious attempt to travel between galaxies would require methods of propulsion far beyond what is currently thought possible in order to bring a large craft close to the speed of light. According to the current understanding of physics, an object within space-time cannot exceed the speed of light, which means an attempt to travel to any other galaxy would be a journey of millions of earth years via conventional flight. Manned travel at a speed not close to the speed of light, would require either that we overcome our own mortality with technologies like radical life extension or traveling with a generation ship. If traveling at a speed closer to the speed of light, time dilation would allow intergalactic travel in a timespan of decades of on-ship time. Additional constraints include the variety of unknowns regarding the durability of a spaceship for such complex travel. Fluctuating temperatures as in the warm-hot intergalactic medium could potentially disintegrate future spacecraft if not properly shielded.