How long does it take for a rocket to reach a planet 10 light years away if the rocket's speed is just near the light speed?
If the speed is 1 c, the folks will answer it will take 10 year to travel to the planet.
Rocket Speed Travel Time (without time dilation)
1c 10 years
That is correct for the clock on the earth.
But, due to the time dilation effect, the clock of the rocket will be much slower and the astronauts in the rocket will then take much less time to travel to the planet. Is it correct?
Rocket Speed Lorentz Contraction Travel Time
0.9c 0.436 4.36 years
0.99c 0.141 1.41 years
0.999c 0.045 159 days (0.45 years)
The human life is about 100 years. So, does it means we can travel much more than 100 light-year distance if there is a near-light-speed rocket?