Mumbai: Numerous tech enthusiasts including scientists, led by Russian internet entrepreneur Yuri Milner planned on Tuesday to send a fleet of robot spacecrafts no bigger than iPhones to the nearest star system, 4.37 light-years away.
The reason behind the mission is to go beyond the usual planets and vault into the interstellar age to the Alpha Centauri.
If it all worked out — a cosmically big “if” that would occur decades and perhaps $10 billion from now — a rocket would deliver a “mother ship” carrying a thousand or so small probes to space. Once in orbit, the probes would unfold thin sails and then, propelled by powerful laser beams from Earth, set off, one by one, like a flock of migrating butterflies across the universe.
Within two minutes, the probes would be more than 600,000 miles from home — as far as the lasers could maintain a tight beam — and moving at a fifth of the speed of light. But it would still take 20 years for them to get to Alpha Centauri. Those that survived would zip past the star system, making measurements and beaming pictures back to Earth.
