NEW YORK – An Internet investor has enlisted famed physicist Stephen Hawking and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to help him with a futuristic plan for seeking life in outer space.
Yuri Milner announced the $100 million project Tuesday. It’s aimed at establishing the feasibility of sending a swarm of tiny spacecraft, each weighing far less than an ounce, to the Alpha Centuri star system.
Get daily National news
READ MORE: Hawking: New science likely to threaten human survival
Powered by energy from a huge, Earth-based laser, the spacecraft would fly at about one-fifth the speed of light. Their target would be a planet with potential for holding life. No such planet has been discovered yet at Alpha Centuri, but experts say one may lurk there.
- Calgary area ‘very uniquely situated’ for study of hailstorms, says researcher
- New Asia Highlands exhibit, with some new species, opens at the Calgary Zoo
- Scientists find sugar in the Milky Way. It could help answer a cosmic mystery
- Meta to build $13 billion data centre in Alberta, largest outside the U.S.
The spacecraft would take 20 years to reach the star system, where they would make observations and send back data.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.