On Tuesday, April 12th, billionaire Yuri Milner and theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking announced that they will be sending small spacecraft to the Alpha Centauri Star System, which is about 4.3 light years from earth. These spacecraft will be powered by giant lasers that will be shot from earth. The estimated time it will take to get there is 20 years which is considered a very short period of time in the field of interstellar space travel. The speed the craft is travelling at is about 100 million miles, one of the fastest speeds at which a man made object has ever traveled. It would be one of the greatest breakthroughs in physics and engineering if it succeeded, but the question is, will it work? Don't get me wrong, I would love to see this mission succeed, but there are many obstacles they would have to consider before starting.
The giant laser beam puts satellites at risk of being obliterated by it. If that happens, communication systems might go out across the world.
Another big problem would be communicating with the craft. If the ship is 2 light years away from earth and has a problem, it would take 2 years for news of the problem to reach earth. And even if it reaches Alpha centauri, it would take another 4 years to get news of what it has found.
The project is a great idea and will revolutionize physics if it works but the chances of it doing so just aren't that much.
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