Let's say humanity discovers the technology to travel between stars and colonize other planets. Soon after that point we'd probably send out our first colonizing ship (for the sake of the narrative, let's call it NewEarthOne), but due to the immense distance between stars, the journey could take several lifetimes. Science-fiction tells us that, in order to cut down on supplies needed for the journey, the colonists and crew would be kept in a state of suspended animation, only awaking from this deep sleep when the autopilot calculates that they have arrived.Back on earth, technological advances are still being made and in another 20 years or so, we develop substantially faster technology. Once the technology is perfected, they send out another colonizing ship. However, due to the scientific advances, this one will arrive before the first ship. When NewEarthOne arrives many years later, they awaken to find a thriving and futuristic NewEarth colony already established on the virgin soil they were seeking.
This concept could be taken even further because if the first trip takes hundreds of years, then there is time for many technological leaps. Perhaps the fifth group to set out is actually the first to arrive and every few decades a ship full of people shows up from further in the past.
It would be a cruel fate to be a pioneer, leaving your old world behind and setting out to create a new one from scratch, only to find that the old one beat you there.
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