To Boldly Go …

Abstract

The Breakthrough Starshot project was launched in 2016 with the aim of developing the technology to send robot spacecraft to the nearest stars. The first spacecraft to head out of the Solar System were launched in the 1970s. Pioneer 10 carries a plaque offering information about Earth and its inhabitants to any alien species that might one day intercept the craft. The Breakthrough Starshot panel included Stephen Hawking and Freeman Dyson. The idea is to use banks of lasers to accelerate mini robot craft to one-fifth of the speed of light with the aim of reaching the Alpha Centauri system within about twenty years.