Stephen Hawking announced today that he’s partnered with Russian billionaire Yuri Milner and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to launch project “Breakthrough Starshot”. This $100-million endeavor will utilize ‘nanocraft’ flying technology, or in other words, sails pushed by beams of light through the universe. Their goal is a 20-year mission to reach the Alpha Centauri star system, located 25-trillion miles away, in search of intelligent alien life. Continue reading for another video and more information.
“Each of these ‘interstellar sailboats’ is expected to carry cameras and a built in GPS to search deep space for habitable planets. 55 years ago today, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space. Today, we are preparing for the next great leap. Earth is a wonderful place, but it might not last forever. Sooner or later, we must look to the stars. Breakthrough Starshot is a very exciting first step on that journey. With light beams, light sails and the lightest spacecraft ever built we can launch a mission to Alpha Centauri within a generation,” said Hawking.
