Traveling beyond our own solar neighborhood has been an aspiration of high-minded explorers ever since we knew such a thing was possible. Well, technically possible. Will we ever actually be able to do it? It all depends on how optimistic you are, but the downside is you'll probably definitely never live to find out …

Want to be a space pioneer? Not much tying you to planet Earth? Apply today and blast off for Mars! Yes, you really could be one of the first humans to set foot on the Red Planet, as Mars One is genuinely looking for new astronauts, and anyone anywhere can apply.

While you've been out living your life in the sunshine and open air, scientists watched as six men willingly spent 520 days locked in windowless, steel tubes inside a Moscow warehouse. Results: this group, once cream of the astronaut crop, morphed into sluggish, unmotivated frat dudes.

Everyone thinks it would be cool to travel at the speed of light, which is why scientists devote their lives to working out if it would be possible and NASA is trying to develop its own warp drive. But easy, tiger: turns out super-fast space travel would be fatal.

NASA currently controls its deep space missions through a network of huge satellite dishes in California, Spain and Australia known as the Deep Space Network (DSN). Even the Voyager 1 probe relies on these channels to beam data back to Earth as it careers away into space.

The idea of a rogue, genius inventor working outside the confines of a government or corporate lab, creating a new technology that could potentially change the world, is certainly tantalizing. Who knows: Guido Fetta could be the next Tesla, and his QDrive could very well revolutionize space travel. Or it could be an…

Human space travel! Already difficult because of the gnarly technology and expensive dollars it costs but even more difficult because humans just can't stay alive long enough for interstellar trips. We need to, like, have sex to procreate and raise kids and stuff.

Space buffs take note: A science project called MAPPER is seeking citizen researchers to help aide in the search for off-world life on planets like our close neighbor, Mars.

You may get to see space in just three or four years using a balloon. And, unlike SpaceShipTwo, you'll be able to be up there for a couple of hours instead of just a few minutes.

Rejoice! Six fake astronauts near the end of their simulated Mars mission, and will set foot on Earth, which they will pretend is Mars. It's the closest a human will get to the real thing for a very long time.