How long Will The First Mission To Proxima Centauri Last?
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Proxima Centauri is the closest star to our solar system. Still, it is so far away that with modern technology, it would take us tens of thousands of years to reach it, but if any space travel technology is capable of building a ship that can get out of the solar system and make our way to the stars. How long would it take us to reach Proxima Centauri? What would that spaceship be like, and who would be on board?
Let’s find out!
It is essential to understand some details about Proxima Centauri. This star is light-years away from our sun, meaning light takes more than four years to travel from there to Earth. It is a red dwarf star, much smaller and cooler than our sun. Its glow is so dim that it cannot be seen with the naked eye, even from the darkest place on Earth. Despite this, the proximity of Proxima Centauri makes it a desirable target for space exploration.
The answer to how long the mission will last depends on several factors, including the technology available, the speed of travel, and the time astronauts can spend in space before returning. Currently, the fastest speed at which we have sent a spacecraft is around 200,000 km/h, which is only % of the speed of light. We would need to develop technology capable of much higher speeds to reach Proxima Centauri in a reasonable amount of time.
One of the possible solutions for this is nuclear propulsion. This technology would use nuclear power to generate a large amount of momentum and speed, allowing the spacecraft to travel much faster than today. However, this technology is still in a very early stage of development, and it is not clear if it will be usable for a human-crewed mission shortly.
Another option is laser propulsion, which uses laser beams to propel a spacecraft at incredibly high speeds. This technology has proven effective in laboratory tests and could be a viable option for a future man-crewed mission to Proxima Centauri. However, further testing and development are still needed before it can be used on a real mission.
Once the propulsion technology has been decided, the travel time to Proxima Centauri will depend on the distance the spacecraft has to travel. Although Proxima Centauri is the closest star to us, it is still an enormous distance away. At the current speed of spacecraft, it would take us more than 6,000 years to get there.
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00:00 Intro
2:02 laser propulsion
2:40 Generation ships
4:30 Some ideas in fiction
6:00 “Aurora“ spaceship
7:40 Most viable technologies ( solar sails)
9:34 How long will the trip take?
#insanecuriosity #proximacentauri #generationship