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[59] [60] A Genesis probe would travel at lower speeds, at a speed 4.6% of the speed of light, which would take at least 90 years to get to Alpha Centauri A. The sail could be configured so that the stellar pressure from Alpha Centauri A brakes and deflects the probe toward Alpha Centauri B, where it would arrive after a few days.
An artist's depiction of a solar sail. In December 2017, NASA released a mission concept involving the launch, in 2069, of an interstellar probe to search for signs of life on planets orbiting stars in and around the Alpha Centauri system. [1] [2] The announcement was at the annual conference of the American Geophysical Union. [3]
On this scale, the distance to Alpha Centauri A would be 276 kilometers (171 miles). The fastest outward-bound spacecraft yet sent, Voyager 1, has covered 1/390 of a light-year in 46 years and is currently moving at 1/17,600 the speed of light. At this rate, a journey to Proxima Centauri would take 75,000 years. [2] [1]
The concept of exploring other star systems with probes (and not just telescopes) has proven elusive for one good reason: even the fastest spacecraft would take 30,000 years just to reach Alpha ...
Sail operating temperatures are a function of solar distance, sail angle, reflectivity, and front and back emissivities. ... Flyby – Alpha Centauri, 40 years ...
Alpha Centauri C is about 13,000 AU (0.21 ly; 1.9 × 10 ^ 12 km) from Alpha Centauri AB, equivalent to about 5% of the distance between Alpha Centauri AB and the Sun. [17] [57] [69] Until 2017, measurements of its small speed and its trajectory were of too little accuracy and duration in years to determine whether it is bound to Alpha Centauri ...
The craft was designed to reach and study Alpha Centauri. Starwisp (1985) Starwisp is a hypothetical unmanned interstellar probe design proposed by Robert L. Forward. [47] [48] It is propelled by a microwave sail, similar to a solar sail in concept, but powered by microwaves from an artificial source. Medusa (1990s)
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