Russian businessman Yuri Milner and the famous British scientist Stephen Hawking launch the project Breakthrough Starshot worth $ 100 million, the purpose of which – to deliver the mini-robots for 20 years to the nearest star system Alpha Centauri.
The tiny nanosatellites will need to develop a speed of up to 160 million km / h to reach Alpha Centauri in 20 years and send data back to Earth.
Interstellar space travel have long remained the dream of many but technical problems associated with such expedition, are extremely complex.
However, professor Hawking said in an interview with BBC BBC that this dream can become a reality sooner than we think.
“If we want to survive as a species, we need to reach other stars,” – he says
“According to astronomers, there is a reasonable likelihood that around one of the stars of the constellation Alpha Centauri revolves planet similar. on earth, – the scientist says. – But we will learn more about this in the next two decades with the help of located on Earth and in space telescopes technological progress over the last two decades and in the future, making it possible even for the next generation “”
. ” – says Hawking
The nearest star system is from us at a distance of 40 trillion kilometers. When using current technologies flight it would take 30 thousand years.
However, the expert group concluded that if invest in research and development in this area, it is possible to build a spacecraft that can cover this distance in 30 years .
Luminous sail
“I would say that a few years ago, the journey to another star at such a rate seemed impossible,” – says the former director research center of NASA, Pete Worden, who now heads the organization Breakthrough Prize Foundation
“But a group of experts calculated that thanks to advances in technology came a concept that seems to work”, -. he says
<. p> The concept is to reduce the size of the spacecraft about the size of a chip used in electronic devices.
The idea is to launch a thousand ships of small-to-Earth orbit. Each of them will have its own solar sail.
It looks like a sailing boat, which was not the wind pushes and light. The giant laser from Earth will give them a powerful acceleration that will help mini-vehicle to reach the speed of 20% of the speed of light.
Nanoapparat will consist of a miniature robot equipped with cameras, photonic engines, power supply, instruments of communication and navigation, as well as light sails thickness of only a few hundred atoms, and the weight of a few grams.
“The purpose Breakthrough Starshot initiatives – prove that nanoapparat weighing a few grams, driven by a light beam is able to develop a thousandfold greater speed and reach of the system Alpha Centauri for 20 years” – quoted by Tass news release the project
fantasy
It sounds like science fiction, but Milner, whose parents named Yuri in honor of Gagarin, believes that it is technically possible to create a spacecraft that has when our lives will reach another star.
Alpha Centauri is the nearest to the Sun system of three stars, the distance to it is more than 40 trillion kilometers (4.37 light years). The fastest of the existing spacecraft will require tens of thousands of years to reach up to it.
It is expected that phase of the study and preparation will take several years for the mission. In the project’s board of directors, in addition to Milner and Hawking, also entered the founder of social networking site Facebook Mark Zuckerberg
Breakthrough Starshot -. Not the first joint project of Milner and Hawking. Last summer, it was announced that the co-owner of Internet companies DST Global and Mail.ru Group will invest $ 100 million in the search for life beyond our planet.
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