Steven Hawking, a world-renowned Cosmologist, is joining up with a group of philanthropists and scientists. The reason for this power team is that this group believes that they may be able to reach a distant star system much faster with their dream of nano-spacecraft.
They’re hoping to see their dream a reality within a single generation. Their goal is Alpha Centauri. Alpha Centauri is a star system that is 4.37 light years away from us. That’s about 25 trillion miles. They believe that the rapid advancement in nano and lasers will help them in developing an ability to capture images and scientific data.
Even with the fastest spacecraft available it would take 30,000 years to get to Alpha Centauri. Hawking and other believe that by using nano-spacecraft propelled by lasers the journey will not only be faster, it would open up a new world of space exploration.
Not only will their nano spacecraft change the future, it will help us gather the data that will let us know whether or not there really is an earth-like planet orbiting Alpha Centauri.
Their claim is that with their project, they may be able to get this much-needed information within 20 years after launch instead of 30,000 years. With that kind of results in space exploration, it’s really no wonder that Steven Hawking has decided to back this project.
How big is this nano craft? The spacecraft would be no bigger than a coin and carry a pretty impressive bank of equipment. On this coin sized nano craft will be camera’s, navigation equipment, communication equipment, a power supply, and a probe.
The tiny craft will then be shoved through space at an accelerated rate by a bank of lasers. The project has even been backed by Mark Zuckerberg who is part of the board that is going to be overseeing the projects progress. Mr. Zuckerberg is known for his creation of the popular social media website, Facebook. Welcome to the table operation “Breakthrough Starshot”.
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