Today, just a few moments ago in fact, Stephen Hawking and a group of scientists working in the organization, the Breakthrough Foundation, have come up with a method of interstellar travel that has captivated the audience. Their proposal is to send tiny spacecraft, equipped with “sails” to explore interstellar space.
Current methods of propulsion are not nearly strong enough to allow us to commit to interstellar travel. However, with the advancements in recent technology, the Breakthrough Foundation has come up with this idea of concentrating beams of multiple small lasers into one big beam in order to power a nano sized sail at about 20% the speed of light, which would allow the spacecraft to reach Alpha Centauri in about 21-22 years. This is quite a remarkable achievement, considering the Voyager 1 spacecraft, which is currently travelling at about 12 kilometers a second, would take a few million years to complete the journey.
The technology is still being developed. These are the first baby steps into the unknown. However, this project is very promising. It is backed by Mark Zuckerberg, and billionaire Yuri Miller. The spacecrafts are called Starships.
The project is challenging, considering the many goals of the project need a lot of manpower, creativity, engineering brilliance and political stability. However, Stephen Hawking believes that this project could be able to launch spacecraft to the Alpha Centauri system within the next few decades.
All astronomers, in fact most scientists, believe that the only way for the human civilzation to continue existing for a long period of time is extending our network into space. Consequently, such a project is of insurmountable importance. The day itself is also very important, because it was on this day 55 years ago that Yuri Gagarin became the first human who ventured out into space.
At last, I would like to share my personal opinion. Space travel and the study of space itself is something tha guides the very essence of my life. In such troubling times, with political instability present at large scales and even the near-future very unpredictable, ideas like these are a beacon of hope for our tiny civilization. These projects are indications of the future that remains waiting for us, if we are to embrace the positive aspects of being human.
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