For those of us at home in the Star Trek universe, 4 April 2063 will be a great day. This is the moment when genius rocket scientist Zefram Cochrane first successfully tests his warp drive. The technology will revolutionise space travel – enabling starships to travel faster than the speed of light, boldly taking us where no-one has gone before. The Vulcans will turn up and everything.

In the meantime, warp drives, wormholes and faster than light spacecraft remain speculative concepts. They might be possible – and the idea of being able to warp space or travel through shortcuts in the fabric of space-time are by no means out of the question – but few physicists are willing to bet serious money against Einstein’s rule that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light.

So where does that leave those who want to explore beyond our immediate cosmic back yard?