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Inter-stellar and inter-galactic travel, though romantic, would, for now appear to be impossible. It is unlikely that homo sapiens (or any other species) will crack the secret of travelling at the speed of light, which would be a necessity for some inter-stellar travel. Travelling at the speed of light will not enable inter-galactic travel, since the nearest galaxy would take light some two million (2,000,000) years to reach, then travelling to different galaxies is out of the question.

Time dilation would also be another reason why inter-stellar and inter-galactic travel would be impossible. Einstein says time is not the same for all observers. For travellers in a space-ship travelling near the speed of light, time would seem to slow down with the consequence that those sent to the stars, if at all, would return when those on the earth, at the time they launched off, would be dead several millenia before the inter-stellar travellers returned. The ethical and legal challenges this would create would be insurmountable.