Mid Day Daily

Wednesday, January 27, 2021
Log in
  • Home
  • National & International
  • Business & Financials
  • Technology
  • Health
  • Science
  • About Us
    • Our Staff
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy GDPR
    • Terms of Use
  • Latest News
    • Sloths Were Declared the Slowest Animals on Earth
    • Facebook’s Messenger Will Give You the 411 on Non-Friends
    • Fun Facts About the Coconut Crab
    • The Coyote Hunting in Wisconsin might be Banned
    • Autism Was Genetically Introduced In Monkeys
    • Tully Monster Has Many More Mysteries Left To Offer
    • Mom Claims Daughter Was Forced To Get Naked To Pass Exam In School
    • What Happens When Two Planets Collide?
    • FDA Approves the BrainPort Vision Device That Gives Hope To The Blind
    • Two Cretaceous Plankton-Eating Fish Species Were Discovered
    • Columbia University Researchers Store Computer Information on DNA Strand

Pages

  • About Midday Daily
  • Contact Us
  • Our Staff
  • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • Terms of Use

Recent Posts

  • Indiana Jones 5 Won’t Open in 2020 After All June 29, 2018
  • ‘Oumuamua is Actually a Comet, Not an Asteroid (Study) June 28, 2018
  • Best Evidence of Alien Life on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus, Found (Study) June 28, 2018
  • Jeremy Irons to Star in HBO’s Watchmen Reboot June 27, 2018
  • The Fermi Paradox: We Might Be Alone in the Universe (Study) June 26, 2018
  • The Strawberry Moon and Who It Will Affect June 26, 2018
  • Tom Holland Reveals Spider-Man: Homecoming Sequel Title June 25, 2018
You are here: Home / Archives for Alpha Centauri

Reaching Far into the Unknown with Starshot

April 20, 2016 By Kurt Cottrell Leave a Comment

"Solar sails"

Solar sails are not a new idea, but combining them with phone-sized probes is.

Stephen Hawking, Mark Zuckerberg, and Yuri Miler are reaching far into the unknown with Starshot, at least, that’s what they’re planning. The trio is working on a new project that will revolutionize both the way in which we explore space, but also the way in which we see Alpha Centauri, our neighboring solar system. The ultimate purpose of the Starshot project is to find life in the known Universe.

 The idea on which the project is based was considered before, but for a Mars spacecraft. After analyzing the specifics, NASA engineers realized that the craft would face too many unpredictable dangers, and renounced the idea of a laser-propelled spacecraft.

But what about laser-propelled probes the size of a smartphone? Hawking believes that the phone-sized probes are not only buildable with current technology, but they might reach Alpha Centauri in one piece, sending back information that the telescopes and the present probes couldn’t.

Moreover, all of this could be accomplished in the next twenty years, making Hawking’s dream a possibility during the lifetime of many generations. We might find signs of alien life on Alpha Centauri at the same time we step foot on Mars.

On the eve of the 55th anniversary of the pioneer flight made by Yuri Gagarin, one of the smartest humans on the planet, Stephen Hawking, social media guru, Mark Zuckerberg, and one of the world’s richest individuals, Yuri Milner, announced that the Starshot project was officially launched.

The first and main investor of the project is Miller, who brought $100 million into the development of Hawking’s technology. With this, and additional funds, a team of researchers will try to build small probes that will be sent to the nearest solar system to gather any data that may show traces of other life forms.

The probes will be equipped with photon thrusters, cameras, communication and navigation equipment, and a power supply. They will fly with the aid of a unique propeller targeted by Earth-bound lasers. The scientists are using laser propulsion systems because laser beams disintegrate slower in space, giving a more powerful boost to the crafts.

According to a professor pf physics at Harvard University, Abraham Loeb:

“This method we’re talking about was conceived as soon as the laser was invented. The problem back then was that people thought that they needed to take humans along.”

He continues by saying that

“Just to give you an example, to get to Pluto it would take three days instead of the 9 years it took New Horizons to get there. If we launch at a fifth of the speed of light, it’ll get there the same week.”

Humankind is reaching far into the unknown with Starshot. And Seth MacFarlane narrated our long, scientific journey perfectly in the video below.

Image source: Wikimedia

Filed Under: Science Tagged With: Alpha Centauri, finding life forms in other solar systems, life forms in Alpha Centauri, Mark Zuckenberg, reaching far into the unknown with Starshot, Starshot, Stephen Hawking, Yuri Miller

Hawking Joins Russian Billionaire’s Efforts to Find Habitable Planets

April 14, 2016 By Amanda Lane Leave a Comment

'Stephen Hawking'

Stephen Hawking will be part of an ambitious space exploration project funded by a Russian tech billionaire.

Famed theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking agreed to join Russian billionaire Yuri Milner’s Breakthrough Starshot project, a $100 million endeavor to detect potentially habitable planets outside our solar system.

The Russian entrepreneur with a background in physics is not at his first attempt to find alien life. Over the years, he has sponsored various space ventures including the Breakthrough Listen project, which is designed to comb the universe for alien life over the next 10 years.

On Tuesday, Milner disclosed another ambitious plan in New York. The Russian will invest $100 million in Breakthrough Starshot, after he had put the same sum into the Breakthrough Listen project.

Breakthrough Starshot will have Stephen Hawking on board in its effort to find exoplanets that may support life. For this goal, the team will develop a fleet of “light-propelled nanocrafts,” which will be instructed to make an interstellar trip to the Alpha Centauri star system. The mission is expected to take 24 years.

Milner said that the project is ‘doable in our lifetime.’ He noted that he has hired top space engineers and scientists from NASA and other agencies. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg reportedly will be part of the board of directors.

Yet, Milner is not the only tech billionaire with an appetite for space exploration. SpaceX’s founder Elon Musk proudly announced that his private spaceflight company has successfully retrieved the first stage of a rocket from ocean last Friday.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has plans for deep space exploration missions involving humans, and even land people on Mars. But Milner’s projects are much more ambitious.

The Russian internet billionaire plans to use state-of-the-art technology including microchips and lasers to power his robotic fleet. Alpha Centauri is a the closest star system to our own, located 4.73 light-years away, and which may host habitable planets.

Pete Worden, a former senior researcher at NASA’s Ames Research Center, who is involved in the project, said that the team plans to overcome all engineering challenges in order to allow scientists to do something ‘really amazing.’ He explained that it would take 30,000 years to get to Alpha Centauri with modern-day spacecrafts.

But with butterfly-sized spacecrafts the journey could take just 20 years. The robotic spaceships will be fueled by solar power and laser technology. Engineers are now working on boosting the speed of the robotic spacecrafts to 134 million mph, which is one-fifth of the speed of light.

Image Source: YouTube

Filed Under: Science Tagged With: Alpha Centauri, Habitable planets, SpaceX, Stephen Hawking, Yuri Milner

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 10 other subscribers

Recent Articles

USPS van

Chinese Drug Dealers Shipping Drugs to U.S. via Postal Service

January 28, 2018 By Dean Lamori

Marlboro cigarette packs

Philip Morris Wants to Help You Quit Smoking

January 6, 2018 By Dean Lamori

Drugs and money

Drug Company Sued for Bribing Doctors to Prescribe Potent Opioid

December 24, 2017 By Dean Lamori

Smartphone user sitting on sidewalk

Calif. Health Dept: Excess Smartphone Use Can Cause Brain Cancer

December 17, 2017 By Dean Lamori

jared kushner

Kushner Plans to Revamp 666 Fifth Avenue Skyscraper, Partner Isn’t Supportive

November 2, 2017 By Tom Hager

elon musk

Elon Musk Shares Progress He Made with Boring Company on Twitter

October 30, 2017 By John Cooper

starbucks mugs

Starbucks Takes Halloween Seriously with New Zombie Frappuccino

October 28, 2017 By Kurt Cottrell

ecigarette

New York to Treat eCigarettes Same Way as Regular Cigarettes in Public Indoor Areas

October 26, 2017 By Tom Hager

amazon box

Amazon Warehouse Delivered Couple’s Requested Storage Containers with 65 Pounds of Weed

October 25, 2017 By Kurt Cottrell

ibm offices

IBM’s Q3 Report Encourages Greater Sales Expectations for the First Time in Years

October 19, 2017 By Kurt Cottrell

dubai police supercars

Dubai Police to Patrol the City from Above Thanks to Multirotor Hoverbikes

October 16, 2017 By John Cooper

marketing stunt for rick and morty

Woman Received Volkswagen Car for One Legendary Szechuan Sauce Pack from McDonald’s

October 14, 2017 By Amanda Lane

honeywell center

Honeywell to Turn Two Units into Publicly Traded Companies by 2019

October 12, 2017 By Tom Hager

self-driving car

New AI Project Will Help Autonomous Cars See What’s Around Corners

October 11, 2017 By Sam Doliente

Categories

  • Business & Financials
  • Entertainment
  • Health
  • National & International
  • Nature
  • Science
  • Technology
  • U.S.
  • World

Copyright © 2021 MidDayDaily.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Contact

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more.