Can it Be Done?
The biggest question of what future space travel would be like is, "Would we be able to travel at the speed of light?" The answer to that question is tough and varied. According to Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, it is impossible, but others say that it has to be true for the advancement into space that we hope for.
At the time being, travel at light speed is quite impossible. Most people, though, believe that something like Star Trek will happen in a couple hundred years, perhaps even sooner. We will not know what the future holds, we can only wonder what our descendants will do and how they will live their lives.
Lengthy Travel?
There is a theoretical rocket that could get energy from atomic sized space debris as it flew along in space. It is called the Ramjet. The Ramjet would be able to collect stray protons and find a way to fuse them and convert it into nuclear energy. This would enable space ships to stay in space without having to stop somewhere because it needs to refuel.
What Kind of Energy Would a Ship Use To Go at Light Speed?
A ship that would be able to travel at light speed would have to use a negative energy. Negative energy is like the anti-matter thing on Star Trek. It is, currently, impossible according to our modern theories of how our universe works. And if there was negative energy available to us, the amount that we would need to be able to create a warp field that would allow us to travel at light speed or faster would be gigantic. It would be so large that it would require that its energy would have to be equivalent to that of one billion galaxies!
The chances that light speed travel is not going to be in our near future are extremely weighed into the direction of the impossible. Most known science says that traveling faster than the speed of light is impossible, and our best chance is in quantum physics, which leans towards the maybe or could be possible. Who knows though; we could be visited by friendly aliens from another planet that have achieved the ability to travel at and beyond the speed of light.
