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.
The timeline I posted in the previous post factors in deceleration. Obviously, you'd want to slow down a bit before you get there, otherwise you'd zip right by it, or into it.
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