I can never have a proper conversation with too many people on the impossibility of space travel outside of our solar system. I will too often hear, "We may be surprised how far technology can go!" when I bring up how not only is faster than light travel highly unfeasible, but even getting somewhere close to it.

And keep in mind that even if we can get some object to travel near light speed, we have to account for human limits when dealing with transporting people.

Perhaps too many people see technological progress to that point as inevitable when they have not thought things through. It is not a coincidence that every SciFi story has some miracle "technology" that is basically just magic to allow for faster than light travel. Not only that, but it often somehow skirts over relativity, unless the story explicitly uses the difference in passages of time as a major factor in the story.

I don't hate Sci-Fi stories for having that magical technology or going beyond what is reasonably possible in other areas of reality and science. But we should treat such media with the same amount of legitimacy as fantasy stories with magical powers. It just is not going to happen.

Whether or not we get people to land on Mars in the future is something that would be quite the achievement. But we should keep in mind that such an achievement is not likely going to be the stepping stone to leaving our solar system to explore other stars. It is already difficult to even fathom getting people to land on Mars.

Hell, we still have people doubting whether or not we landed on the Moon. Because that (alleged) feat is indeed something that is no easy task. I myself am apathetically agnostic on whether or not we landed on the Moon. I can accept either outcome as possibly being true. But I understand that limitations are far greater than people think when it comes to other possible journeys.