News Archive / Tagged: Alpha Centauri

• Stellar radiation may preclude Earth-like atmosphere on Proxima b

  Laurel KornfeldAugust 3rd, 2017

  The exoplanet closest to the Solar System, Proxima b, is located in its star's habitable zone but may be unable to support life because radiation from its host star is likely to strip away its atmosphere, according to a new study based on a computer simulation.

• Could Breakthrough Starshot be humanity’s first interstellar mission?

  Jason RhianAugust 1st, 2017

  In the NewSpace era, one hears all manner of predictions and brash claims, few come to fruition. Most of these efforts see Chapter 11 before they ever take to the skies. One program, dubbed Breakthrough Starshot, is looking to send mankind's space exploration efforts far beyond the Solar System by using the world's smallest spacecraft.

• How to slow down an interstellar spacecraft at Alpha Centauri

  Tomasz NowakowskiMarch 25th, 2017

  While one of the most important challenges for future interstellar travel is how to send a probe to other stellar systems relatively fast, another issue that needs to be resolved is how to successfully slow down such a spacecraft once it gets there.

• Stephen Hawking and Russian billionaire announce mission to Alpha Centauri

  Tomasz NowakowskiApril 14th, 2016

  Famed cosmologist Stephen Hawking and Russian businessman Yuri Milner announced on Tuesday, April 12, on what could be a revolutionary mission to our nearest star Alpha Centauri. The $100 million space project named Breakthrough Starshot aims to send a fleet of laser light-propelled nanocraft to our neighboring star system, within about 20 years of its launch, instead of 30,000 years.

• Opinion: Should Alpha Centauri be the first target for interstellar probes?

  Tomasz NowakowskiFebruary 22nd, 2016

  With the completion of New Horizons’ primary mission of a flyby of the dwarf planet Pluto, should we now set our sights even much higher, ambitiously taking aim at other star systems? If so, Alpha Centauri would probably be considered as the best target for an interstellar spacecraft due to its 'proximity' to Earth.