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Interstellar Travel Timescales 3D Explorer vs alternatives
The Interstellar Travel Timescales 3D Explorer compares how long Voyager 1, the Breakthrough Starshot concept, and light itself would take to reach Proxima Centauri in one 3D scene - NASA/JPL's own Voyager mission status pages win as the source for Voyager 1's live measured position; the Voyager Interstellar Position 3D Explorer wins for that live position tracking.
| Option | Strength | Access | Tradeoff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interstellar Travel Timescales 3D Explorer (this page) | Compares three vehicles' real/published speeds and transit times to Proxima Centauri with a log-scale time slider | Free, in the browser | Schematic distance line, not to true light-year scale |
| NASA/JPL Voyager mission status pages | Real, regularly-updated measured distance and speed for the actual Voyager probes | Free, official source | No comparison against other vehicles or the Proxima Centauri distance |
| Proxima Centauri System 3D Explorer | The star system's own planets and habitable-zone band | Free, in the browser | Does not cover journey time or vehicle-speed comparisons |
Key published figures
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Proxima Centauri distance | about 4.246 light-years |
| Voyager 1 speed / transit time | about 17 km/s / about 75,000 years |
| Breakthrough Starshot concept speed / transit time | about 0.2c / about 20 years |
| Light-travel time | about 4.25 years |
Start with the step-by-step guide or when to use it. Open the Interstellar Travel Timescales 3D Explorer.
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