What an Astronaut Will See and Encounter When Flying at a Speed Approaching That of Light

Abstract

In our t ime, when the most daring dreams about reaching cosmic space are coming true, when artificial satellites and cosmic rockets developed by man 's hands are penetrating the boundless distances of the solar system, human thought seeks for new, untested ways to conquer the cosmos. People not only dream, but begin to compute mathematically the possibilities of flying to other stars of our galaxy. How can we conquer the enormous distance separating us from even the nearest stars? The future astronaut will be able to bridge it during his lifetime only if his ship will move with a speed approaching tha t of light. The observer moving with a speed approaching tha t of light (relativistic speed), exists now on the pages of fantastic novels only. Although one writes about photon rockets there is yet no real basis for developing them. Will it ever be possible for a flight with relativistic speed to become a reality? The history of science and of technology convincingly proves tha t the most categorical n o cannot be applied to the future. What seems impossible today can become completely feasible tomorrow. But, even in our t ime and with the contemporary level of knowledge, one can foresee a part at least of the difficulties and obstacles which will be met and will have to be overcome by the future relativistic navigator to the stars. The motion involving relativistic speed hides several surprises which are discussed in this article.