Instead, scientists use light-years to measure distances in space. Light travels 186,000 miles per second. Multiply these together to get 31,500,000 seconds in a year. The speed of light If you could drive nonstop to the sun at 60 mph, it would take 180 years.
Light makes the same trip in eight minutes.
So the sun is about eight light-minutes away. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second, which is about 37,200 times faster than the shuttle. So the shuttle would need about 37,200 years to go one light-year. How far back you see depends on how long it's taken light from that object to reach you. The farther the object, the farther back in time you see.