Familiarize yourself with G.B. Shaw’s “Back to Methuselah” sequence of plays, which speculates on the effects of human longevity increases made possible through genetic engineering, and John Boorman’s “Zardoz”, which takes this one step further to a time when genetically modified “immortals” no longer desire to continue to live. In both these works, the exploration of space proved to be a dead end, as there is little to be gained by near-solar system interplanetary space travel and the vastness of space itself makes intergalactic space travel impossible to achieve. Mankind’s destiny is in his realization that the Earth is his domain and that the Earth is, effectively, the center of the universe.
“In both these works, the exploration of space proved to be a dead end, as there is little to be gained by near-solar system interplanetary space travel and the vastness of space itself makes intergalactic space travel impossible to achieve.”
With unlimited energy available (both solar and nuclear), the solar system alone offers hundreds of times the livable habitat available on Earth. Raw materials abound in asteroids, comets, moons and planets. It was just discovered that Ceres contains vast amounts of water. Constructing massive space habitats is within the reach of current technology, as well as colonizing the Moon and planets.
Even the Oort cloud is available, again with unimaginable resources and wealth. Eventually, and perhaps sooner rather than later, interstellar ships will bring humanity to new star systems, and Man will become an interstellar species.
Intergalactic travel won’t be of interest for a very, very long time if ever. The Milky Way has over 100 billion stars to explore in its own right.
The future is very literally boundless.