With current technology - I dunno... let's say ion propulsion - how long would it take to do a fly-by of another star system? Basically, just send a probe to take lots of data, then zip around it and coast back to earth? (Or not even come back, just send signals back...)
Your right with the current technology it would take a long time. However, with advances I say within the next 50 years, going to other star systems will be more feasible..
Our fastest probes might top out, being extremely generous, at 100,000 MPH. 1 light year is around 5.86 trillion miles, so our nearest stellar neighbor of Alpha Centauri would be 4.32 ly away or ~25 trillion miles.
If I calculated correctly, that works out to 1141 years for a one way trip....