A trip to Gliese 581 C

Before we pack our bags let's figure out how long it takes to get to this planet.

Gliese 581 C is 21.5 light years away. (Approx: 120 trillion miles)

A few calculations:

c = Speed of light in a vacuum: 186,000 miles/second.

%c ,,,,,,,,,,, Earth Time ...... Ship Time ...(Lorentz)
50% .......... 42 years ........ 36.1 years ........ .86
75% .......... 28.7 years ...... 18.96 years ....... .66
95% .......... 22.63 years ..... 7.06 years ........ .31
99% .......... 21.71 years ..... 3.06 years ........ .14
99.9% ........ 21.52 years ..... .96 (350 days) .... .045
99.99% ....... 21.502 years .... .30 (109 days) .... .141
99.999% ...... 21.5002 years ... .096 (35 days) .... .0447
99.9999% ..... 21.50002 years .. .003 (1 day) ...... .0014

Time will move much slower for the traveler (relative to the Earth observer) as he or she approaches the speed of light.