Breakthrough Starshot

How 2016 Heralded a New Kind of Race Into the Final Frontier

This artist’s impression shows the planet Proxima b orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Solar System. The double star Alpha Centauri AB also appears in the image between the planet and Proxima itself. Proxima b is a little more massive than the Earth and orbits in the habitable zone around Proxima Centauri, where the temperature is suitable for liquid water to exist on its surface. Caption and credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

Scientists Believe a Potentially Habitable World Orbits Sun’s Closest Star

Credit: geckzilla/Flickr, CC BY 2.0

We’ve Become More Ambitious About Reaching Alpha Centauri – What Changed?

The bright star on the left, Alpha Centauri, is in fact two stars close together: Alpha Centauri A and B. A much dimmer star, circled in red, is Proxima Centauri and is thought to be orbiting the A/B pair. The bright star on the right is Beta Centauri, considered to be a separate stellar system. Credit: Skatebiker/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Starshot, a Billionaire’s New Mission to Get to Alpha Centauri in 20 Years