Stephen Hawking's Fastest Spacecraft To Travel Far In Search Of Life


BENGALURU: A breakthrough initiative on space exploration and the search for life in the Universe has been announced by the duo; Internet investor and science philanthropist, Yuri Milner and renowned cosmologist, Stephen Hawking.

Breakthrough Starshot, a $100 million research and engineering program, will fund the development of a light-propelled nanocraft; a possible fly-by mission to Alpha Centauri. Alpha Centauri is the nearest start to the earth after the sun.

The just-a-few grams spaceship could reach Alpha Centauri within about 20 years of its launch, if it travels with the speed of 134 million mph, that’s about one-fifth of the speed of light. It would fly through space; the idea is to build a so light spacecraft, which can be accelerated by the light-powered satellites.

However, Yuri believes moving up to that kind of speed is quite the long shot but, he completely believes in Moore’s Law—the idea that computer-processing power will continue to double every two years. In theory, it means scaling down the size of components to gram-scale computers and sensors is possible, with enough funding to the project.

Many experts have various things to say on this project. They believe even if Milner's funding successfully makes such tiny spaceship to clear out through space with phenomenal efficiency, compelling it to the speeds he expects is simply impossible.

"The sun is definitely not going to work for us here," Milner told The Post. "What you need is a much more focused beam."

Dubbed “Project Starshot” NASA will also be working closely to realize the design and to protect the ship from the damages that may occur due to high-energy radiation. The nanocraft will have the ability to take pictures and record other scientific data, and transmit it back to the earth systems.

Project Starshot will be led by the former director of NASA Ames Research Center, Pete Worden and to be advised by a committee of illustrious scientists and best engineers. The board will consist of Stephen Hawking, Yuri Milner, and Mark Zuckerberg.

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