Yuri Milner breakthrough mission to Alpha Centauri Options

[Guest_mcmcmc_*]

https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/about

Laser-powered nanocrafts headed to Alpha Centauri:

Breakthrough Starshot is a $100 million research and engineering program aiming to demonstrate proof of concept for a new technology, enabling ultra-light unmanned space flight at 20% of the speed of light; and to lay the foundations for a flyby mission to Alpha Centauri within a generation.

Which are the engineering challenges?
http://breakthroughinitiatives.org/challenges/3

Yuri Milner twitter feed (official?): https://twitter.com/yurimilner

[tanjent]

I think, it's less than 1% science and more than 99% fiction in a world with finite ressources.

Yes, but... if only a couple of entries on that long list of desirable breakthroughs could be checked off within a generation, it would greatly facilitate further exploration within our own solar system. And so I am glad to see someone throw some finite resources at an audacious and unrealistic plan like this. I don't expect we'll see any photos from Alpha Centauri in any living person's lifetime, but there's a lot more to be learned closer to home if only a few of those research lines ever pan out.