As the Klingon ship bears down on the Starship Enterprise, preparing to fire a barrage of photon torpedoes, Captain Picard shouts “Maximum warp!” and the Enterprise leaps away towards another star system, faster than the speed of light. Is this scene from Star Trek purely science fiction, or is there truth to the concept of interstellar starships? Despite the significant scientific progress that has been made in this area, energy requirements, high costs, and the problem of time still present enormous challenges to the vision of interstellar travel as portrayed in Star Trek and other films.