>>>>(how would we get to other stars without warp drive, eh?)
>>>
>>>Alpha Centauri is only 4.3 light-years away. We could get there using "conventional" propulsion systems. It would simply take awhile. ;-)
>>
>>Well, assuming the velocity of the fastest man made object yet, 75K mi/hr, it would only take about 38,99 years. A solar sail would drop it down to about 3,000 yrs.
>>JLK
>
>So the question is, will something that much faster come along in the next 3000 years? It would suck to be part of a colonization effort deployed now only to be passed be the equivelant of a pinto in 1000 years.

Nice, bringing the Pinto back into it..haha. Actually, there has been at least one SF story I read on that very subject. For the life of me, i can't recall the title, but basically a 'current' tech ship takes off for a distant star, the crew in suspended animation to handle the journey time. When they get there, they find a thriving colony - sometime after they left, faster ships were developed and others got there first.