<blockquote>
<p>can we fly a rocket past the black hole in the milky way?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The too long, didn't read answer is &quot;NO&quot;.</p>
<hr />
<p>First things first, which black hole?</p>
<p>The central supermassive black hole is about 27000 light years away. Humanity hasn't the foggiest idea about how to realistically achieve anything close to speed of light travel. But supposing we could, the flyby is still 27000 years into the future. It will take another 27000 years for the results of the flyby to reach us. Human organizations have a hard time planning over a decade into the future. 54000 years into the future? Not a chance.</p>
<p>There are a good number of known stellar mass black holes that are a lot closer than 27000 light years away. The nearest confirmed stellar mass black hole is about 1600 light years away. A suspect black hole is slightly less than 1000 light years away. There might exist one that is even closer. But even if there is, we simply do not have the technology to send a vehicle to something that is 100 light years away and return a signal to us, let alone 1000 or 27000 light years away.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-08T04:35:45.580Z
I am surprised that you chose to answer a question that is blatantly unclear and missing context (I was under the impression that you are generally strict with questions). Anyways, +1 nonetheless :)
Nilay Ghosh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-08T09:54:46.043Z
@NilayGhosh Unless astronomers discover that the conjectured planet 9 exists and is a quantum black hole, the answer is an emphatic all-caps NO. I assumed the question asks about known black holes. Moreover, since the questioner wrote "the" rather than "a" black hole, the questioner most likely was asking about the supermassive at the center of the galaxy.
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-08T03:17:18.213Z
2022-12-08T03:17:18.213Z
David Hammen
<p>Some information needed is facts about the black hole in a milky way.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-11T18:50:33.460Z
Hello @BethanyPalmer, *Welcome to Astronomy SE!* It's a really big deal that the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft have left our solar system, but it will be an unbelievably long time before they reach the distance of nearby stars, our closest neighbors. The Milky Way Galaxy is just incredibly huge, and as DavidHamment's answer points out it's measured in light years. If I google "size of the Milky Way" I get "105,700 light years"! If I google "distance to Voyager 1" I get "approximately 14.6 billion miles". However, if I google "voyager 1 distance from earth in light years" I found out that
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-11T18:53:33.303Z
it will take another 17,000+ years to reach just 1 light year. To learn more about the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way and the stars that orbit it, we just have to keep building better and better infrared and radio telescopes. Check the question [How did they make a video of the center of the galaxy, and what is it exactly that's flashing there?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/28940/7982) for example.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-07T23:18:43.070Z
Hello Bethany.  Please work to improve your question.  Firstly is [space.se] a better place to ask it?  If so please delete this question and ask there.  Secondly Are you asking if we have the technology now (or soon) to fly a rocket past supermassive black hole in the MilkyWay or are you asking if there is a physical law that prevents this no matter how long or what level of tech?  Do you mean the supermassive black hole or one of the many smaller black holes?  What do you mean "past"  How close do you want to be?  You must [edit] to improve your question or it will be deleted.
James K
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-08T04:09:52.650Z
I’m voting to close this question because it is not about astronomy.
Connor Garcia
<black-hole><milky-way><space>
can we fly a rocket past the black hole in the milky way?
Bethany Palmer
# can we fly a rocket past the black hole in the milky way?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-12-07)

Some information needed is facts about the black hole in a milky way.

**Tags:** black-hole, milky-way, space
> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Hello Bethany.  Please work to improve your question.  Firstly is [space.se] a better place to ask it?  If so please delete this question and ask there.  Secondly Are you asking if we have the technology now (or soon) to fly a rocket past supermassive black hole in the MilkyWay or are you asking if there is a physical law that prevents this no matter how long or what level of tech?  Do you mean the supermassive black hole or one of the many smaller black holes?  What do you mean "past"  How close do you want to be?  You must [edit] to improve your question or it will be deleted.  
> **username_3**: I’m voting to close this question because it is not about astronomy.  
> **username_1**: Hello @BethanyPalmer, *Welcome to Astronomy SE!* It's a really big deal that the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft have left our solar system, but it will be an unbelievably long time before they reach the distance of nearby stars, our closest neighbors. The Milky Way Galaxy is just incredibly huge, and as DavidHamment's answer points out it's measured in light years. If I google "size of the Milky Way" I get "105,700 light years"! If I google "distance to Voyager 1" I get "approximately 14.6 billion miles". However, if I google "voyager 1 distance from earth in light years" I found out that  
> **username_1**: it will take another 17,000+ years to reach just 1 light year. To learn more about the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way and the stars that orbit it, we just have to keep building better and better infrared and radio telescopes. Check the question [How did they make a video of the center of the galaxy, and what is it exactly that's flashing there?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/28940/7982) for example.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2022-12-08. Score: 5

> can we fly a rocket past the black hole in the milky way?

The too long, didn't read answer is "NO".

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First things first, which black hole?

The central supermassive black hole is about 27000 light years away. Humanity hasn't the foggiest idea about how to realistically achieve anything close to speed of light travel. But supposing we could, the flyby is still 27000 years into the future. It will take another 27000 years for the results of the flyby to reach us. Human organizations have a hard time planning over a decade into the future. 54000 years into the future? Not a chance.

There are a good number of known stellar mass black holes that are a lot closer than 27000 light years away. The nearest confirmed stellar mass black hole is about 1600 light years away. A suspect black hole is slightly less than 1000 light years away. There might exist one that is even closer. But even if there is, we simply do not have the technology to send a vehicle to something that is 100 light years away and return a signal to us, let alone 1000 or 27000 light years away.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: I am surprised that you chose to answer a question that is blatantly unclear and missing context (I was under the impression that you are generally strict with questions). Anyways, +1 nonetheless :)  
> **username_4**: @NilayGhosh Unless astronomers discover that the conjectured planet 9 exists and is a quantum black hole, the answer is an emphatic all-caps NO. I assumed the question asks about known black holes. Moreover, since the questioner wrote "the" rather than "a" black hole, the questioner most likely was asking about the supermassive at the center of the galaxy.  

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