Where and when did space first exist ? How infinite is space? If humans have never been that far, how was space created? And who/what created the creator of space?

Question

Where and when did space first exist ? How infinite is space? If humans have never been that far, how was space created? And who/what created the creator of space?

3 Answers

Answer Question

Answer 1

Wow, what a question. Everything that follows is based upon "current thinking" and we have got that wrong many times before). The "space we know" was "created" around 14 billion years ago. That mean that if we "reversed" the current expansion of the universe, it would come to a point 14 billion years ago. Humans are unlikely ever to get outside the solar system (our little piece of the action). With the fastest rockets ever created on Earth it would take us around 10,000 years to get to the outermost parts of our solar system. To get to the nearest star, 250,000 years. To explore another nearby galaxy, Andromeda for instance (our nearest neighbour (in galaxy terms) around 3 billion years. You wouldn't be back for tea! These are all "local". Most of the "Universe we know" is MUCH further away. As to who created the universe? No idea, does there have to be a creator?

Answer 2

If we put aside God for the moment (I'm sure He wouldn't mind), although Ray is right to point out the problems caused by the extreme distances involved in space exploration, he's perhaps a little too pessimistic on our inability to explore deep space.

The fastest possible speed at which anything can travel is the speed of light, around 186,000 miles per second. Our nearest star (not including the Sun!) is Proxima Centauri, around 3.2 light years away. This means it takes 3.2 years for light from Proxima to reach us on Earth, and we'd 'only' need 3.2 years to travel to Proxima if we were able to travel at lightspeed.

To put this into contrast, the Voyager 2 probe, launched in 1977 with 1970s technology, has only just left the solar system and at its current rate of 37,000 miles per hour, would take 80,000 years to reach Proxima, even if it was heading in the right direction.

Reach Up For The Stars!

If humans are still around in 1000 or 2000 years time, then maybe we will have discovered the secrets of travelling at the speed of light and set off for the nearest stars, though if those stars didn't have planets, then there might not be so much point in going there. The nearest stellar neighbor believed to have planets is Alpha Centauri, 4.3 light years away. One day, after a trip of 4.3 years, humans will walk on those planets.

Or, maybe I've been watching too much Doctor Who lately.

Thinking about space can seem scary, but it can be inspiring as well, as this YouTube about astronomical distances shows:

Answer 3

Many modern people are so focused on finding out why/how something is. What people tend to ignore (and often get things wrong from) is because they aren't looking at what they're missing or don't know. If we take a look at what we don't know, rather than going back and trying to re-explain our obvious failure with even more ignorance AND arrogance, we should look at what's missing.