4.1: Invitation To Canopus
is one lifetime enough?
Approximately ninety-nine light-years from Earth lies the star Canopus. The Space Agency asks us to visit it, photograph it, and return home with our records.
"But that’s impossible," we object. "We have only a little over forty more years to live. We can spare at most twenty years for the outward trip, and twenty years for the return trip. Even if we could travel at the speed of light, we would need ninety-nine years merely to get there."
We are greeted with a smile and a cheery, "Think about our request a little longer, won't you?"