By Taylor Moffitt of Halydean
Muons were discovered by Anderson & Neddermeyer in 1936. They are created when particles from space crash into the atmosphere, for about 2 millionths of a second. They travel at 99% of the speed of light. Here on earth, from our perspective, they should be able to travel about .66km. However, research has shown that due to Einstein’s theory of special relativity, the particles do not age according to time from our perspective, but from their own perspective of time, which is slowed down by their great speed. This allows them to travel for about .66 km, or 32 km, depending no your perspective. One of these measurements is 48.48 times faster than the other, relatively speaking.
I thought that was pretty interesting because I figure it means that to travel 48.48 light years at 99% of the speed of light, one will need only to wait 1 year… and will only need enough fuel and supplies to travel for one year. Alpha Centauri is our nearest star system at 4.22 light years away. Since there are 365.259636 days in a year, if we had a warp-drive spaceship capable of traveling at 99% of the speed of light for the entire trip, we would need to pack enough meals and oxygen et cetera for only about 31 days and 10 hours.
Taylor Moffitt of Halydean 