Could new propulsion systems get us that far?

This video examines 10 possible ways that future space travel missions could reach other stars.  There have been a lot of potential new rocket systems and even theoretical models that some astronomers say could work.  The closest known star to our solar system is Alpha Centauri which is only about 4 light years away.  By cosmoc standards that is extremely close, but still a super far distance by our known travel techniques.  Could some sort of solar sail work, a microwave based engine or perhaps something else?

Here is one comment on this video thread that you may or may not agree with:

I was listening to an ex-NASA engineer and he told me something quite interesting…

Humans were not made to go into space. He explained that space is too dangerous for us and we were never meant to explore it; instead, we should send robots (like the Mars rover) to find new planets, new species, etc.

He says this is the reason why NASA almost shut down, they are spending billions of dollars on trying to find out how to take astronauts far into space when they could be exploring planets such as Pluto (had they focused more on robotic exploration).

At first, I was taken aback and didn’t think him serious. Now that I look at it, I have to agree with him; space isn’t made for us. As much as I love the movie “Interstellar”, I don’t agree with the statement that “humans were meant to leave Earth”. It is our home and only home, and if it dies – we die with it.

Do you agree with this comment or is space exploration real and in our future?  Feel free to comment with your ideas.

We hope you enjoy the video and thanks to Hybrid Librarian for the awesome footage.