MINIATURE SPACECRAFT TO SEARCH FOR ALIEN LIFE: BACKED BY FACEBOOK CEO AND FAMOUS PHYSICIST

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Breakthrough Prize Foundation, via Livestream

April 13, 2016 (San Diego) – Is there life in a galaxy far, far away?  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and famous physicist Stephen Hawking believe it’s possible. 

So they’re teaming up with Russian billionaire Yuri Milner to develop and launch a fleet of miniature spacecraft each the size of a postage stamp to explore the universe in search of alien life forms.  The program will be led by Pete Worden, former NASA Ames Research Center Director, with a team of world-class scientists and engineers.

Thousands of nanocrafts will be powered by sails pushed by light beams on a journey to Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system to Earth. Once launched in the next few years, the 25 trillion mile voyage will take about 20 years to complete, plus another 4 years to transmit the data back to scientists here on Earth.

The project is called Breakthrough Starshot, a $100 million philanthropic venture. 

In a statement, Hawking says, "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,” he concludes.

Read more: http://breakthroughinitiatives.org/News/4