A Seattle-area nonprofit group known as the Fermi Explorer Mission today unveiled its plans to send a spacecraft on an 80,000-year trip to the nearest alien star system, Alpha Centauri.
If the mission goes as planned, it would mark a milestone for interstellar flight. But Philip Johnston, the group’s co-founder and president, doesn’t expect Fermi Explorer to be humanity’s first visitor to Alpha Centauri. He’s counting on our descendants to figure out faster ways to travel between now and the year 82026.
“We’ll be the first to leave, and the last to arrive,” he said.
The robotic spacecraft won’t be powered by antimatter, dilithium crystals or other science-fiction standbys for traveling between stars. Instead, it will depend on a tried-and-true solar electric propulsion system to build up speed for the 4.4-light-year trip.
Johnston and his teammates laid out the mission requirements for a bidding process that aims to keep the cost of designing, building, launching and operating the probe below $15 million. They’re also soliciting contributions, with launch targeted by the end of 2029.
