Planet Proxima b, which is located in one of the closest star systems to us, has become an achievable goal of the Breakthrough Starshot project. We do not know if this "star shot" will show a planet suitable for human settlement, but it is definitely necessary for us to master our own solar system.
Detecting Proxima b
In August 2016, scientists discovered a potentially habitable Earth-sized planet orbiting near our Sun's closest stellar neighbor: Proxima Centauri. This means that Proxima b is located at a distance of 4.2 light years from us. Scientists have tried to unearth more details about this planet and hope that the James Webb Telescope will give us a better view. However, a spacecraft sent to this planet could collect enough data to show if the planet can support life - or does.
Shortly before Proxima b was found, a group of scientists and businessmen took the first steps to send humans into the Alpha Centauri system, announcing the Breakthrough Starshot project. This international project, which is funded by Russian investor Yuri Milner in the amount of $ 100 million, should significantly accelerate the research and development of a viable space probe suitable for interstellar travel. The discovery of Proxima b provided an achievable, but still challenging, engineering goal.
To reach Proxima b in the lifetime of one ordinary scientist, the probe must travel at a speed equal to one-fifth the speed of light or faster. Then, flying past the Proxima system at 60,000 kilometers per second, he needs to collect useful data and transmit it four light years to Earth.
The first important step is to accelerate the spacecraft to a sufficiently high speed. Conventional rockets cannot store enough fuel to gain the required speed, so Starshot will use laser light. Anchored to Earth, a 100-gigawatt array of lasers will generate a beam that propels the small sail of the probe after conventional rockets have lifted it out of our atmosphere.
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The greatest risk is from collisions with interstellar particles and cosmic rays. Starshot hopes to protect the ship by covering the leading edge with a millimeter of high-strength material like beryllium copper. To make sure that the probe does not go off course and jeopardize the mission, it will be equipped with an AI pilot.
Scientists expect to launch the craft in 2040 and then wait 20 years. In 2060, the Starshot's on-board computer should wake up, check with the Earth, make sure it is approaching Proxima Centauri, and prepare to fly.
One giant step
The top priority for the machine is to take a photograph that shows either a deserted or a blooming green planet. It will also show large features like craters and mountains. And the onboard spectrometer can look for molecules that speak of life, like methane, oxygen and more complex hydrocarbons. Instruments can also probe the atmosphere (if any) and measure the planet's magnetic field. Proxima b, like any other exoplanet, will surely have some surprises in store for us.
In addition to all this, supporters of the Starshot mission see in its potential success something more than data about a new world - it will mark the entrance of humanity to a new level of achievement. “I see Starshot as an opportunity for development,” says Calvin Long, project board member. "It's like going to the moon."
In other words, the success of Starshot will provide us with a new set of capabilities that will turn the exploration of the solar system from a dream to a routine. For example, the laser array spoken of in Starshot could send probes anywhere in our solar system in a few days and travel into interstellar space in a week or two.
“How do you get a package from Amazon to Mars in one day?” Says astrophysicist Philip Lubin, who is also on the board of the project. "This is a radical opportunity that we could very well explore."