Would It Take to Reach Alpha Centauri?

Alpha Centauri is 4.4 light-years away, or nearly 40 trillion kilometers. The fastest spacecraft so far launched into space, the NASA-Germany Helios probes, traveled at 250,000 kilometers per hour. At that speed, it would take the probes 18,000 years to reach the nearest star to the sun.

Would a trip to Alpha Centauri be possible in our lifetime?

Earth's nearest exoplanet twin orbits a star about four light years from here. Now scientists say it's possible to visit this system in our lifetimes by propelling a tiny spacecraft on the tip of a laser beam.

How long would it take to get to Alpha Centauri with current technology?

Current technology can't get us anywhere close to the speed of light (c); the Voyager probes are moving at something on the order of 1/17500 c. At speeds like that, it's about 75,000 years to Alpha Centauri.