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RE: A planet in the Goldie Locks zone confirmed on nearest neighboring star system.
Wow, four lightyears, that is actually manageable. (Not today, but it will be loads easier to scout that planet, than to scout planets 100's of lightyears out.)
Magnificent finding,
From my rudimentary understanding, if we can achieve 20% the speed of light in space travel, it would take roughly 21 years to get there. Of course there are other obstacles to overcome once that could be achieved, however this does present a possible target outside of our Solar System to ponder over! Thanks for the read and comment @walkerlv
Laser powered solar sails could be used to achieve that kind of speed. They have already been proven to be useable (IKAROS-project) but the addition of driving it with a laser rather than with solar wind is still a huge step. Still, the relatily short distance removes many of the problems (like the insane lensen which would be required to be able to focus the laser beam hundreds of lightyears away.)
To quote Dr. Sagan: “The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars.”