I am rather excited to find that some serious attention is now being given to the need for interstellar travel capabilities. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA for short, has teamed up with a branch of NASA to set the ball in motion. It is call the 100-year Starship Study. There will be a symposium on the subject in late September in Orlando, Florida and about 150 people will participate. They will be chosen based on panel proposals and speaking abstracts that are submitted through their site.

It is great to see that they are finally working towards this and so seriously too. If you check out the release from DARPA on this you can see how serious they are. There will be discussion not only on what new technology will get us to the nearest star but also how we choose who goes, how do we deal with the ethics of it, how do we sell the idea to the general masses, cryogenics, and a lot more.

In the end they are looking to seed a company that is created with the purpose of making this happen in the next 100 years. Personally I am hoping for some of the technology created along the way to improve my life. Mostly I really want a faster way to get from my home to Orlando, Florida for my favorite vacations as the plane ride is the only downside to my Walt Disney World trips. Maybe we will be able to say “Beam me up” by the time they head to the stars.