Stephen Hawking, a Russian billionaire, and Mark Zuckerberg want to send tiny spaceships to Alpha Centauri

[kevindavis007]

Alpha Centauri, the second closest star to Earth, is 4.37 light-years away. That's a tantalizingly close neighbor in an observable universe some 93 billion light-years wide. As we run out of objects to explore in our own solar system, it's among the most tempting places to visit.


Still, even our most ambitious spacecraft could never reach it in our lifetimes. The spacecraft New Horizons, which flew by Pluto last year, flies at around 33,000 miles per hour. That means it would take around 20,000 years to send a craft like it to Alpha Centauri. Humanity itself might not last that long.


So to get there, we'd have to come up with a radical new concept.


Today, Russian billionaire Yuri Milner and super-famous physicist Stephen Hawking announced they have arrived at one: teeny, tiny spacecraft.


They call their initiative the Breakthrough Starshot, and it involves propelling space vessels the size of postage stamps to 100 million miles per hour — 20 percent the speed of light. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg also serves on the board of the project (Milner is fronting the initial investment).


At that speed, one of these "nanocrafts" can reach Alpha Centauri in 20 years. And because radio communications travel at the speed of light, it would only take an additional 4.37 years for the data from the mission to reach Earth.


"The limit that confronts us now is the great void between us and the stars," Hawking told reporters. "But now we can transcend it."


Milner and Hawking say the nanocrafts can be propelled by an array of lasers on Earth aimed at the craft's solar sails. Here's an animation of the concept. It's wild.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMkWGN1G6Kg


Hawking and Milner think it's possible to design such tiny spaceships because of Moore's law, which dictates microchips will keep getting smaller and more powerful. "This creates the possibility of a gram-scale wafer, carrying cameras, photon thrusters, power supply, navigation and communication equipment, and constituting a fully functional space probe," the Breakthrough Starshot website explains.


What's more, Hawking and Milner claim these "Starchips" will be relatively cheap to manufacture. "Once it is assembled and the technology matures, the cost of each launch is projected to fall to a few hundred thousand dollars," their website states. They won't have to stop at sending one nanocraft to Alpha Centauri — they could send dozens.


But take note: This will not be happening quickly. The New York Times reports Milner says it will take 20 years to get a working nanocraft into Earth's orbit. The Breakthrough Starshot website lists around 20 different engineering hurdles scientists will have to overcome before any of this is possible. For example, they'll need to design a battery to last the whole mission. In total, the project could cost $10 billion. Just getting a proof-of-concept spacecraft could cost $100 million.


Still, it's exciting. And as Hawking warns in a press statement: "Earth is a beautiful place, but it might not last forever. Sooner or later we must look to the stars." We may need to find a new home.


Source: http://www.interstellar-news.net/2016/04/stephen-hawking-russian-billionaire-and.html

[Bill Cipher]

I like the idea, just wish it would happen sooner. 

[kevindavis007]

I like the idea, just wish it would happen sooner.

I know what you mean.. By the time this is all said and done, I'll be in my 80's..

[Bill Cipher]

I know what you mean.. By the time this is all said and done, I'll be in my 80's..

by the time they say they can field one in orbit I'll be about 60 or so. Young enough to watch but too old to participate.

[rangerrebew]

Tiny, Laser-Propelled Spaceships Will Take Us To Alpha Centauri
So says Stephen Hawking, at least

http://www.vocativ.com/science/

By Ethan Harfenist
Apr 12, 2016 at 9:26 PM ET
 

Renowned physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking and Russian billionaire Yuri Milner on Tuesday unveiled Breakthrough Starshot, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at building tiny light-propelled “nano” spacecrafts to visit Alpha Centauri, the second-closest star to earth at 4.37 light years away.

According to Vox, the initiative, which is also being backed by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, is meant to launch “space vessels the size of postage stamps to 100 million miles per hour—20 percent the speed of light.” At such a speed, one of these nanocrafts could get to the star in 20 years’ time. Additionally, the data obtained by one of these tiny ships could get beamed back to earth in 4.37 years, since radio communications travel at the speed of light.

“The limit that confronts us now is the great void between us and the stars, but now we can transcend it,” Hawking said during a news conference at One World Observatory, as quoted by space.com. “With light beams, light sails and the lightest spacecraft ever built, we can launch a mission to Alpha Centauri within a generation. Today, we commit to this next great leap into the cosmos. Because we are human, and our nature is to fly.”

Milner and Hawking say the tiny spacecrafts can be propelled using lasers stationed on Earth, and both believe the concept is possible because of Moore’s law, which states that microchips will continue to get smaller and more powerful as time goes on. “Moore’s law has allowed a dramatic decrease in the size of microelectronic components,” the project’s website states. “This creates the possibility of a gram-scale wafer, carrying cameras, phonton thrusters, power supply, navigation and communication equipment, and constituting a full functional space probe.”

The website adds that these chips could mass-produced at the cost of an iPhone. However, according to the New York Times, “much of the plan is probably half a lifetime away.” In addition to the billions that it will take to fund such a project, Milner says it will take 20 years to get one of the mission off the ground, 20 years to get to Alpha Centauri and then the other four to get the information.

[Bill Cipher]

I like the idea but I'm not sure it would work.  Two problems come to mind: first, how would these things be slowed down once they got there?  It's fine to get them up to 20% of light speed from here, but you still need to get them back down out there or else they'll fly right by.  Second, the interstellar cosmic rays are really deadly and could easily cause irreparable damage to the things on the way there.  Any shielding that would be sufficient would mean they were no longer nano.

[rangerrebew]

I like the idea but I'm not sure it would work.  Two problems come to mind: first, how would these things be slowed down once they got there?  It's fine to get them up to 20% of light speed from here, but you still need to get them back down out there or else they'll fly right by.  Second, the interstellar cosmic rays are really deadly and could easily cause irreparable damage to the things on the way there.  Any shielding that would be sufficient would mean they were no longer nano.

And would probably be built by the lowest bidder.  I've heard astronauts have thought about the lowest bidder problem when the rocket is rumbling beneath them.