Can We Really Get to Alpha Centauri? The Breakthrough Starshot Mission Explained

It’s going to be almost impossible to travel to another star, but a new idea was announced that might get us to a nearby star within our lifetime. How will it work?
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Team: Fraser Cain - @fcain
Jason Harmer - @jasoncharmer
Chad Weber - [e-mail]
Created by: Fraser Cain and Jason Harmer
Edited by: Chad Weber
Music: Left Spine Down - “X-Ray”
• Left Spine Down - Side...
In a previous episode, I said that traveling within the Solar System is hard enough, traveling to another star system in our lifetime is downright impossible. Many of you said it was the most depressing episode I’ve ever done .
The distance to Pluto is, on average, about 40 astronomical units. That’s 40 times the distance from the Sun to the Earth. And New Horizons, the fastest spacecraft traveling in the Solar System took about 10 years to make the journey.
The distance to Alpha Centauri is about 277,000 astronomical units away (or 4.4 light-years). That’s about 7,000 times further than Pluto. New Horizons could make the journey, if you were willing to wait about 70,000 years. That’s about twice as long as you’d be willing to wait for Half Life 3.
But my video clearly made an impact on a plucky team of rocket scientists, entrepreneurs and physicists, who have no room in their personal dictionary for the word “impossible”. Challenge accepted, they said to themselves.
In early April, 2016, just 8 months after I said it was probably never going to happen, the billionaire Yuri Milner and famed physicist Stephen Hawking announced a strategy to send a spacecraft to another star within our lifetime. In your face Fraser, they said... in your face.
The project will be called Breakthrough Starshot, and it’s led by Pete Worden, the former director of NASA’s AMES Research Center - the people working on a warp drive.
The team announced that they’re spending $100 million to investigate the technology it’ll take to send a spacecraft to Alpha Centauri, making the trip in just 20 years. And by doing so, they might just revolutionize the way spacecraft travel around our own Solar System.
So, what’s the plan?
According to their announcement, the team is planning to create teeny tiny lightsail spacecraft, and accelerate them to 20% the speed of light using lasers. Yes, everything’s made better with lasers .
We’ve talked about solar sails in the past, but the gist is that photons of light can impart momentum when they bounce off something. It’s not very much, but if you add a tremendous amount of photons, the impact can be significant. And because those photons are going the speed of light, the maximum speed for the spacecraft, in theory, is just shy of the speed of light (thanks relativity).
You can get those photons from the Sun, but you can also get them from a directed laser beam, designed to fill the sails with photons, without actually melting the spacecraft.
In the past, engineers have talked about solar sails that might be thousands of kilometers across, made of gossamer sheets of reflective fabric. Got that massive, complicated sail in your mind?
Now think smaller. The Starshot spacecraft will measure just a few meters across, with a thickness of just a few atoms. The sail would then pull a microscopic payload of instruments. A tiny chip, capable of gathering data and transmitting information - these are called Starchips. Not even enough room for water bear crew quarters.
With such a low mass, a powerful laser should be able to accelerate them to 20% the speed of light, almost instantly, making a trip to Alpha Centauri only take about 20 years.
Since each Starshot might only cost a few dollars to make, the company could manufacture thousands and thousands, place them into orbit, and then start bugzapping them off to different stars.
There are, of course, some massive engineering hurdles to overcome.
The first is the density of the interstellar medium. Although it’s almost completely empty in between the stars, there are the occasional dust particles. Normally harmless, the Starshots would be smashing into them at 20% the speed of light, which would be catastrophic.
The second problem is that this is a one-way trip. Once it’s going 20% the speed of light, there’s no way to slow the spacecraft down again (unless the Alpha Centaurans have a braking system in place). Just imagine the motion blur and targeting problems when you’re trying to take photos at relativistic speeds.

[@helloworldstein]

That HL3 joke. 10/10

[@michaelc9644]

No truer words ever spoken

[@milkhbox]

Only 34,999 years to go until the release!

[@Amoraszune]

Ron Ramen perfect joke from 2017 ;)

[@armouredoutlaw1537]

Probably the most appropriate use of the analogy that's ever been spoken!

[@lawrencedalimonte4420]

As someone who waited for and played HL2, that joke was astronomically funny and appropriate!

[@czechmex88]

Wow that half-life 3 joke came out of nowhere lol

[@kentbarker2117]

Gotta stay hip and hop with the kids.

[@NazmusLabs]

The guy who is always right no matter what actually no. Kids these days don't get hl3 jokes. 13 year olds today were born when hl2 was released. Think about that.

[@phrobozz]

You're clearly unaware that legally, at 25 you're supposed to quit playing video games, at 35 cut off your thumbs, and at 45 pretend Pong, arcades, Atari, Intellivision, Colecovision,the C64, Apple II, and the NES never existed.

[@neolynxer]

Cornelius .Warbenshneider, necroposting here, but, actually, Fraser is an insane gamer with countless hours in hundreds of games. A lot of kids these days won't keep up.

[@robobo2226]

Half Life 3 Confirmed in 70,000 Years!

[@frasercain]

+Gamez Well, don't get your hopes up...

[@Malfunct1onM1ke]

+Fraser Cain God damnit, Fraser! :D

[@RoadRunner1980]

+Fraser Cain That's way too optimistic.

[@kysknappen7731]

haha

[@azuritewashere1909]

*35,000

[@spidos1000]

Back when they invented the first train over 200 years ago they said that nothing can travel faster than 35mph because it would fall apart. We now have trains travelling 10 time that. You can't say anything is impossible. A 100 years ago I can't imagine that anyone would have thought we would have sent people to the moon or that flight was even possible. I have confidence in humans that we will one day travel to Alpha Centauri.

[@lievenlaureys]

flight was already possible a few centuries BC tho! But yeah, if we survive long enough we probably will get to the alpha centauri system!

[@doncarlodivargas5497]

but nothing can travel faster than 350mph because then it will fall apart

[@lievenlaureys]

hahaha, yeah good one!

[@andyvasvari4874]

For what? Do they sell or buy something there?

[@johndifrancisco3642]

Andy Vasvari, Yes, Humans! =:O

[@Hawtsaus]

I love the idea of sending swarms of miniature robots to invade other solar systems.

[@stevejoshua9536]

It might be fun to photoprint the image of a Borg Drone on the sails, with the message, "You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."

[@stardude2006]

Hawtsaus 😊

[@SylkaChan]

They're thinking of laser powered small robots. I would look into teleporting electrons in order to travel faster than light.

[@rubikfan1]

half life 3 is on one of the planets of alpha centrauri there you go. that mast be enough motivations.

[@user-og6ol2im7v]

I'm going there on my bicycle

[@tinderglobalsecurity7492]

Farine im using my snail drawn carriage

[@Kahandran]

It's insane, but I'm excited to see where this goes.

[@thetiltedcat6167]

+JR S. 20 - 30 Years.

[@CocoaBeachLiving]

Hey, at least someone is trying

[@evilcam]

I have been an advocate of von Neumann machines for years. I think this is the first ever real and serious step to thinking about their viability. So I am elated. I really hope this gets off the ground and we can try it in my own lifetime. If any part of it works, it is at least a proof of concept for von Neumann machines, and I could die happy knowing that we are at least likely in some way to send things out into interstellar space, with a specific purpose and destination, and that is comforting enough.

[@AilisonCarvalho]

Half-Life 3 confirmed!

[@ihateeverything9137]

wats half life 3?

[@destinsharp3237]

+I Hate Everything the half life is considered to be the greatest video game franchise of all time a masterpiece of physics

[@AilisonCarvalho]

Destin Sharp The first HL (Nov 1998) was revolutionary for the game industry and it was the responsible to disseminate so far out the FPS (first person shooter) game style and so as it did by graphics, then the same happened with HL2 release in Nov 2004 after a few HL1 parallel games until 2001, but it showed the world how music and sounds should work together in a game despite it's graphics it's physics was incredible for the time, that game was really amazing as it's next 2 characters HL2 episode one (jun 2006) and two (oc 2007). Since 2005 people are wondering when HL3 will be release and so everybody tries do find an answer somewhere. hahahahahaha

[@DeathInANuse]

By the time we get it, it will take a computer more powerful than a star to run it.

[@rulingmoss5599]

+Destin Sharp Half life is far from that, lol.

[@georgenelson9211]

WOW! Amazing Video Fraser!!! This is a very exciting concept!!!

[@Aaron7075]

I haven't left a comment yet, but I have been watching your channel for a while now and you guys do great videos. Keep it up, keep inspiring future astrophysicists, astronomers, aerospace engineers, and astronauts. Fraser Cane and team, you are all badasses.

[@code4chaosmobile]

Just had a thought. What if you send a bunch out but with varying speeds that would create overtime a relay Network. And depending on how many many can realistically be then you could include a sort of mesh Network that will lower the requirements on resources due to it being spread out. If this scales too masses that could slow themselves down then we're in the territory of interstellar Highway structures. The precursors to larger lasers that could keep certain paths clear of debris and also assist in accelerating or decelerating passengers along the route.

[@frasercain]

I was thinking about that idea. You send out a stream and they build a mesh network that brings the signals back. I like it!

[@Amariachan]

i wonder if we will find coffee at Alpha Centauri mhmmm extra terrestial coffee

[@bencollins5937]

+Amaria Hummel Maybe there's a Star-bucks there.

[@isabelneerunjun4371]

They're probably already addressing this issue....don't let it put you off! :-))

[@winterweib]

That's my last interest- I do not drink coffee, cannot stand the smell. My Mother used to say, they changed her daughter with me, that child of strangers, in the hospital, lol.

[@Amariachan]

winterweib to each their own ;)

[@johndifrancisco3642]

I hope it's not those coffee beans that are ate by aliens and then shat out and recovered for our delight. I hate those!

[@MyNameIsSonsky]

wow! good thing i stumbled upon this awesome channel.. just got another sub here! keep it up guys!

[@scottclowe]

That blooper... hilarious! So worth the wait.

[@d370ur]

Starchips... - flashes back to first season of Yugioh -

[@NeroPiroman]

+Rejeeve Smith the nostalgia

[@keithh6866]

I believe free Wi-Fi from Earth to the Kuiper Belt as something doable in 10 years.

[@sicklymoonlight]

Keith H Pretty sure Wi-Fi from Earth to the Oort Cloud would be doable as HL3 releases. Wi-Fi from Earth to the HBGW would be doable just as the Universe ends.

[@mr.d3916]

i'm happy i found this channel!

[@oldironsfury]

Any strategy as long as it's actually real and comes to existence and isn't bs that just becomes talk. Any strategy is great to hear on human venture into the stars ✨

[@MissMyoozikal]

Let's do it!

[@frasercain]

Let me know when your spacecraft is ready. :-)

[@pmsavenger]

Well, this is one way to realise I apparently haven't hidden my real name on Patreon(although I have now rushed to hide it!). :P Also, oh dear, English speakers pronouncing Scandinavian names. Always amusing!

[@leadersuccess3761]

Awesome video thanks !

[@frasercain]

Thanks for watching. :-)

[@jimmysjamin1]

Out of all the theories I've read about this particular theory at least to me is the most plausible, even with the hurdles, seems to me the most likely. I especially like the incredible idea of possible interlocking space craft once destination is reached to make one or more large ships, to cruise around the new star system, awesome video production ! I could listen and talk for hours about this, we are only limited by our imagination look at the possibilities ! glad I found you can't wait to watch your next video bravo bravo !

[@frasercain]

Thanks a lot. You've got about 340 videos in this series to catch up on. :-)

[@conditionedair4353]

this is like getting to the moon in the 1940s, everyone thought it was impossible but we eventually made it.

[@frasercain]

Let's explore our own Solar System a little better. Then we can figure out if the next step is possible.

[@kodyrouse5064]

I understand the comparison, but we're getting the close to the speed limit of the universe (as we know it). So the universe is starting to limit our abilities, not necessarily our technology

[@ArythemB]

Kody Rouse speed limit of the universe is unknown, but speed of matter is mostly known. Universe speed is faster than lightspeed

[@gj9157]

Kody Rouse Lol, the universe doesn't care what we create. It's called the laws of physics.

[@stardude2006]

I can fully consume A restaurant 😊

[@ChrisClark31415]

Assuming this works as expected, I can see this scaling up using some sort of orbital solar powered laser system.

[@kingsk0133]

Yeah...

[@grahamrich9956]

What could possibly go wrong?!

[@LukeRanieri]

It’s a very good strategy also for the Solar System! I do research at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, and we have advocates here for taking this approach with Mars rovers: multiple, smaller, cheaper rovers that can spread out risk and increase discoveries in multiple places on the planet.

[@Hoopfan83]

love this channel

[@robertsmith20022]

20yrs????? SHIIIITTTTTTT!!!!

[@RastaPilot737]

I will be only 45!! so this is exciting!

[@TheUnderratedOrange]

I'll be 39

[@christianv-h3278]

At least it's not 70000 years

[@robertsmith20022]

Christian V-H you know what.... That's true I'd only be 53

[@yourbestwhatever]

Robert Smith dito, but i doubt it starts soon

[@brfisher1123]

To put that time period in perspective: 70,000 years is roughly 6 times longer than we've had agriculture so far which is around 12,000 years, 14 times longer than all of recorded history which stretches "only" 5,000 years and well over 2,000 human generations so yeah, that's one heck of a travel time! lol

[@frasercain]

So yeah, a really really long time.

[@brfisher1123]

+Fraser Cain And that's assuming that the probe doesn't run into any problems (both internal and external) because problems are almost certain to happen to the New Horizons probe down the line in its 70,000 year trip.

[@frasercain]

And it's going to run out of juice in about 10 years.

[@poodtang1]

I have some idea's how to slow the space craft down : 1 gradually deploy flaps to slow it down like on an aircraft, at the same time powering down the laser. 2 make it gradually go in loops 3 gradually use the gravitational influence of AC to pull it into a tightening ellipse 4 gradually steer the aircraft by adjusting angle of the laser 5 or all four of the above

[@frasercain]

Yeah, I wonder if you could fly really close and use a solar sail to slow down.

[@manz92]

Thank you for these great videos.

[@frasercain]

+manz92 Thanks for watching, make sure you subscribe. :-)

[@RPKGameVids]

It's like a repeat of the old times, way back when we didn't have the technology we have today, we had to use sails to travel very slowly from country to country.

[@frasercain]

Yeah, maybe that's half the reason I like the idea so much. It makes me think of my sailboat.

[@danyhigg986]

Yeah but in the vacuum of space although acceleration would be slow it would be constant so over time speed would be immense

[@soontobegone1949]

History repeats my guy

[@jonathanoakey2778]

that half life 3 joke was great

[@frasercain]

+Jonathan Oakey I'm waiting too...

[@vk5dl]

Great series, have watched every episode

[@ffggddss]

Thanks for more than a hint about just how gigantically enormous the problems for the proposed Starshot mission will be! It really is in that "that's so crazy, it just might work!" realm. Then again, back in 1948 I believe it was, when Lyman Spitzer told his grad advisor about his idea to put an astronomical telescope in space, he was told, "You're a young man, Lyman; you'll live to see it fail!"

[@frasercain]

It is crazy, but I don't think it has to be that crazy. This technology could work within our Solar System too.

[@whatthefunction9140]

Ant man could ride on that spaceship.

[@rsjabba]

+Dylan T I found Ant Man to be completely ridiculous. The formula was said to shrink the space between atoms or parts of atoms to alter their size but not their mass. That means the whole time that he was micro Paul Rudd was still a 80kg man (or so, I don't know what he weighs). So there was no way he could ride ants, at all. Landing on a car roof would destroy the car (and him), standing on a person's shoulder would probably make that person fall over or at the very least hurt them unless they were prepared. So Ant Man on that space ship? Nah, that just adds 80kg it isn't designed to take...

[@Odinsday]

+rsjabba Yeah the movie did a terrible job executing the formula correctly. I still though the movie was fun though.

[@ArythemB]

rsjabba changing a atoms properties is probably possible, so weight of an atom can be custom

[@deoc.5975]

I can't believe he just made a Half Life 3 lmao

[@frasercain]

At least I confirmed the release date.

[@deoc.5975]

+Fraser Cain lmao

[@mitchwhitehouse7320]

In the 80's as a teen, I played with the idea of pencil lead size "robot starships" going out in all directions from an orbiting electric rail gun. Station keeping would be made easier by launching in near opposite directions. Communication is still the major problem. My solution was to plot a 10 to 20 star course with auto calculation of sling shot trajectories that slowly turn the ship around and back to our solar system. Slightly larger "transmitter ships" would be launched as they pass by to stay within range of the starship's very short range communications to transfer the data and relay it back to us while within our solar system and receive a new mission. I also anticipated 20% to 50% loses and that visited solar systems would be have multiple flyby's because just one successful pass would not be enough. I stopped thinking it would it be done because the 80 to 200 year flight times would be too long and the info made obsolete by new tech.

[@chrisridenhour]

There’s a video on KZbin where a guy shows how far it is in comparison to the solar system. Our solar system fit on a football field and Alpha Centauri was the next state over. Really put it in perspective

[@aryan.2384]

Yes we can everything is possible

[@viijackiiv9713]

Captain Rogue .

[@Deerock_FL]

Sure anything is possible, but im not going to hold my breath that it will happen in my lifetime

[@motorhead6763]

How do we know if Alpha centuri still even exists? Could have been gone and light still continues to come even though it physically is gone or burnt out...we are looking at the past in the sky...many forget that fact...

[@cuteswan]

+motorhead - Heh, I sometimes think that the sun could have exploded a few minutes ago yet we won't notice a darn thing for at least another five minutes. (I'm such an optimist...)

[@frasercain]

+motorhead We're seeing the light from Alpha Centauri as it was 4 years ago. Not that much is going to have happened. We talked about in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e32nkH2siNBprrc

[@johndifrancisco3642]

motorhead, We don't know. But we will!

[@pavanperumallapalli5565]

Points you made makes absolute sense 👍

[@johncgibson4720]

Best video of Fraser Cain.

[@frasercain]

Thanks!

[@nickynick5424]

are their burger king drive thrus in alpha centauri

[@frasercain]

Probably, those things are everywhere.

[@joejoe7212]

how come we can not take a close up picture of this star ? when we can see distant galaxies far from our own milky way galaxy ???

[@lgab]

Because these galaxies are ENORMOUS compared to any star, in our galaxy regardless of the distance. Andromeda covers roughly the same amount of sky as the moon does.

[@Monyato]

lgab the moon doesn't have a sky. Wtf. What r u fucking gay

[@PaulRyther]

go back to your lame game

[@sunspotst7697]

So now we going to sail to the next star but we haven't gotten to mars😆😆😆

[@Matt-pz4tx]

Hayden Philbert yes we have ever heard of curiosity

[@pineapplepenumbra]

But we've sent probes to Mars. This is about sending probes (very small ones) to another star.

[@frasercain]

We haven't sent humans to Mars yet, but we've sent robots. Same thing. We'll send robots to other stars before trying to send people.

[@willverschneider1102]

@Fraser Cain By the time we have the technology to send robots to other stars, robots would've already conquered the world. And they will send humans into space, so no robot lives will be harmed.

[@sunspotst7697]

Will Ver Schneider you funny 😅

[@sixsixteensevens297]

Rock an roll lets go..look forward to these eails working1

[@rushwal]

Excitement level increased.

[@ferraricarpaccio1811]

In other words no human being will EVER! see no further than Jupiter/Saturn😭 That blows major balls😢

[@frasercain]

Nope, probably not.

[@johndifrancisco3642]

Fraser Cain, Well there you go again! That last "impossible" comment you made got all of this going. Let's see where "probably not" goes! :)

[@Pile_of_carbon]

I'm ok with that. I'm going deep sea scuba diving on Europa.

[@leonardpearlman4017]

I don't think I will live to see anyone living on Mars, even! I think this COULD happen, there have been specific plans ("The Mars Project" by Von Braun is a book-length treatment, I owned a copy) made before I was born. Sci-fi has outstripped our technology by a factor of hundreds of millions it looks like. Those blue crystals must be SOMETHING! It might be that them galaxies are just something to look at! We can get information from other planets but maybe not VISIT them.

[@quadrplax]

Not within a lifetime, but that doesn't mean never.

[@slyblood85]

By the time HF3 comes out we'll have warp drives.

[@lbochtler]

I think by then we have colonised a few galaxy's or so...

[@starfcy]

big rip will happen before that

[@ImHeadshotSniper]

+lbochtler i think we will have evolved into higher dimensional beings already and the universe will have begun the dying process that will take trillions of years and gabe will release half life 20 minutes before the end of the universe

[@donaldschaff8707]

And would it make any difference if you attach the much stronger magnet to the rear and the smaller one in front of it would it repel it forward

[@flypurplecat4774]

Love your solutions. Make sense along with the reasonable constraints. That's all you gotta' tell today's young scientists, "can't be done" and they come up with some remarkable ideas! I hope we find life, any kind, in my lifetime since I watched Shepherd's launch. Keep being inventive.

[@mybirds2525]

Such a tiny star chip would get fried by cosmic radiation in 20 years.

[@frasercain]

That's why you send a LOT.

[@mybirds2525]

Statistically that doesn't work. The math is against you on quantum grounds

[@anishnehete]

😃 😃 😃

[@cloverfield911]

I think we should concentrate on everything we have here in our solar system for now.

[@joe4324]

This actually helps that I think, this laser booster system I think could push all kinds of things. Even cargo missions, probes perhaps even occupied spacecraft around the solar system. But the heavier the load gets the progressively less its going to push it. But we only need to get things to tiny tiny tiny fractions of the speed of the starshot craft to get around pretty good in our solar system.

[@luc6284]

I think we should send those things to AC asap. It'll take 20 years travel + 4.4 years in communication time to reach alpha centauri. In the meanwhile we can explore the rest of our solar system when we'll also see information on another star system in our lifetime :D

[@pawelsiepka248]

yep, definitely. Our closest neighborhood first

[@adellzachary3171]

cloverfield911 I think you're an idiot like Trump.

[@dufo4766]

Obviously....That's common sense

[@bradleywasser9472]

That water bear joke was really good

[@seanhartnett79]

Great plan.

[@mabus-channel]

how do we get back to Earth if our solar system is moving away 800,000 km / h?

[@frasercain]

You don't.

[@mabus-channel]

Fraser Cain​ Fraser, this video clip is so funny. How can you come back to Earth? Who will press the laser from the stars? Oh, hahaha...

[@frasercain]

Mabus channel Nope, this is a one-way trip. But it's just a robot, so don't worry too much. We send robots out into space all the time.

[@mabus-channel]

Fraser Cain Everything is possible with CGI animations and green screen.

[@thecrazylooser7]

Mabus channel no human for the moment, this is a pioneer as other probes never will back to us

[@Buildingblox17]

Let's destroy Venus. It's not impossible, and it's more important than traveling to a new star.

[@DrogoBaggins987]

+Buildingblox17 I'll probably regret asking but, why is it important to destroy Venus?

[@Buildingblox17]

Drogo Baggins Because... Well I don't know. It's very dangerous there and it could be a hazard!

[@DrogoBaggins987]

Buildingblox17 Sure. I guess. Now that I think of it it would be in the way if we ever needed to build a bypass there.

[@Buildingblox17]

LondonSpade lmao 😂

[@DrogoBaggins987]

I have been working on this problem at least eighteen hours a day every day since this was posted ten months ago. I now know how to destroy Venus thanks to congressional candidate Brianna Wu. All we have to do is go to our moon and throw rocks at Venus. If they can do what Wu says from the moon then Venus being inside Earths orbit and therefore down hill should be easy to obliterate with a few medium size rocks.

[@user-nd7rd8jo6h]

I like the Daisy chain idea. The oldest one will send the signals back to the one following right behind it and repeat. So they could get their maximum data transfer with less energy requirements.

[@1muralmasters]

I feel that in the distant future, an armada of several enormous craft should plan a long journey to Alpha Centauri system. Life on these craft would be designed so pleasant that it would not matter to the occupants that the destination is many generations ahead.

[@mybirds2525]

OK let's get clear. No way we can ever go to another star unless we break the speed of light. We have to break the speed by about 100 times. Now if you believe the speed of light is the limit, NO WAY. Now get practical the issue isn't the speed, it is what happens if you run into something on the way.

[@frasercain]

I agree with you, the big limitation will eventually be the impact velocity of dust and particles in space. They'll tear a spaceship apart.

[@mybirds2525]

I want you to understand that I am not a critic of the project. I believe it to be very possible. I do not believe the speed of light or mass issues are a problem. The problem is out thinking only

[@gj9157]

Paul Noel It's called warp drive. Its theoretically possible and far easier than breaking the laws of physics.

[@mybirds2525]

You have defined as did men before you that the laws of physics apply a limit to your speed of travel. Physics as your religion says that but the laws of the natural world don't know your religion. Sorry but the math for handling the speed of light is identical to that for handling the speed of sound. Guess what? The sound barrier was no barrier and neither is the "Light Barrier". It is just another Mach boundary and will fall. Of course you will go on preaching this is not so until you die. You see Physics advances one funeral at a time.

[@albertogutierrez8653]

Paul Noel Noel, you pissed on the project. Otherwise, you sound correct.

[@michaelstgo5399]

Honestly the lazer propulsion thing that popped out recently it's really our biggest chance..We have to act fact though, he is right when he's worried about humanity, there is no god, we are not doing well ourselves and we honestly need to colonize at LEAST Mars here in the solar system, in the next 3-4 decades. We are a little too slow.. Also, I can't die without having had my eyes seen other forms of life, or us as a kind reach that milestone and go to Alpha Centauri.

[@frasercain]

+Michael Stgo I'm hoping we'll find evidence of life in the next few decades.

[@crankenstein20]

It's a very good method for getting to Alpha Centauri and something I am fully on board with and I think we should get on it ASAP because I want this to happen in my lifetime. The sooner the better, it may open doors to new technology and help us to advance even quicker. However, the 3 major hurdles you mentioned are quite important and not something I even considered. I knew that it would have to be a one way trip and there'd be no slowing down but I didn't think of the difficulty of trying to take pictures at 20% the speed of light lol

[@frasercain]

Yup, I agree, and I'm all in on this idea. Let's use these probes to better explore the Solar System first, and then reach out to other star systems.

[@Ooloncollu]

That is a fascinating idea. Now, how do we get those tiny spaceships to transmit their data back to us? A relay chain of spaceships. Or mix in some double sized ones with greater transmitting power and half speed that will be somewhere in between, when the first ones arrive at AC. Lots of problems left, but the idea of providing energy to a spacecraft by laser beam rather than by hulking up tons of chemical fuel is certainly a promising path.Thanks for the videos Fraser!

[@rolandrobledo5952]

Good Day Fraser! Is it possible to attach a breaking system to those light sails such as nano thrusters programmed to operate in some time frame when the spacecraft is approaching near its destination? Thank you!

[@frasercain]

Maybe? But they're going 10% the speed of light, so it'll be hard to slow them down, but there are some ideas. www.seeker.com/breakthrough-starshot-proxima-centauri-physics-interstellar-hawking-mi-2250504927.html

[@mattiasagren7193]

Could you please increase the volume on your videos, listens to these before bedtime but the extremely loud commercials wakes me up all the time

[@frasercain]

I'll pass that along to Chad.

[@michaeljanos8424]

Fraser, thanks for vid. Question,,,, which new propulsion system is likely to become a reality first,,,,, Breakthrough Starshot or INS Enterprise w/Warp Drive? And what kind of timeline are we talking about for each program?

[@SirNikurasu]

I've had a nightmare a few days ago, where Alpha Centauri suddenly appeared in the sky, getting closer and closer over the course of days, and at some point you could notice the gravitational impact it had. I had to grab onto a lantern on the last day, because gravity started doing weird things. A few hours later (or days), the star was about to crash onto earth (which for some reason hadn't burnt away at that point) and the last seconds of earth were covered in flames. It was really scary

[@kazenriq]

Let the space sailing season start!!

[@castlecan]

Good to hear...go.

[@buzzcrushtrendkill]

Excellent video. Nothing like objective reality and science to explain these kinds of things. Too many have watched Star Wars and Star Trek and think interstellar travel is just so easy without thinking things through. As much as I would love to see Alpha Centauri explored with probes or any other human made spacecraft, the more you know the more it really is just a pipe-dream.

[@niall5821]

Miniatures? Damn! Have not thought about that! Hope they make it and soon

[@frasercain]

Hopefully we'll see some tests soon.

[@JAGtheTrekkieGEMINI1701]

Those videogame jokes always make me smile... Btw. My hope lies in the 100 year starship "initiative"

[@aircraftpartner2695]

I think we need focus and unity. Billions spent on multiple different projects which don’t actually build the infrastructure needed for cost effective, and eventually profitable space travel and exploration.

[@GalaXy808]

THAT IS FAAAR!!!!’ANY OTHER IDEA I CANT WAIT TO SEE

[@theprodigalfrog2941]

Personally I think its a great idea. Make 5000 of them and send them off in all directions. I can hear it now though: "Those earthlings have another drone watching us. Everyone go back inside".

[@frasercain]

Or they'll send their drones at us.

[@Ozzah]

The residents of Alpha Centauri are going to be SO HAPPY when "THOUSANDS" of our space probes start littering their system, and taking photographs of them and transmitting them without their consent.

[@frasercain]

The probes will zip through in just a few hours, so hopefully they won't even notice.

[@christosgiannopoulos828]

You know what, Do more videos on how things can't happen, so people would try to do them as well.

[@johnwang9914]

Breakthrough Starshot is just reintroducing the Starwisp concept and laser sail concept from Dr. Forward decades ago.

[@asdfffytr]

love these videos..

[@frasercain]

Thanks, make sure you subscribe.

[@asdfffytr]

Oh I did .. you do a great job . I am fascinated with black holes .. keep up the great videos

[@nanram588]

Talk about what researchers have done already with the uniforms of astronauts ,so they can go out of earth's magnetic protection field, Im so anxious to know how's feels been so far from home. Love your channel since i saw the first video.🙏

[@MRMichael376]

Is laser based propulsion only practical for space travel? Or can it be applied to air travel also?

[@paularijit123]

We have to try. Maybe able to reach the nearest start.

[@AnonymousFreakYT]

Okay, the HL3 reference made me laugh out loud. :-D

[@ivicapavic3381]

I know this may sound like several questions, but it's all parts of the same question really: How exactly do they control the spacecrafts? Isn't there a delay before the signal reaches the spacecraft and vice versa? How do they perform maneuvers in space then? What sort of signal is used for communication? Light, sound or some other form?

[@derivious2012]

quick lesson to all, farther= distance. further = something figurative.

[@frasercain]

Always get those two mixed up.

[@seanhartnett79]

4:07, that is why we launch a crap ton of them. Thousands of them. If we lose 10%, 20%, or even 50% or more. We would have plenty of them left to take photos. Since they would be cheap to build, we can launch a whole bunch.

[@calvintrainer1212]

How can they control the direction of the sailing craft? I can visualize the bed-sheet in the wind, even if you can keep the "sheet" flat I have a hard time to think how it would work

[@frasercain]

We did an episode on this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpaZqqJ9m7mNhc0

[@JonathanStein]

Fraser, gotta just say I love your deadpan humor. Half Life 3...

[@etraise2]

It's still a good idea to get something to go fast enough, not necessarily to "get there" in less time, but just that much closer to get that much more information within our lifetime. Some planets have already been inferred that are a few light-years away. If we could have just a closer look! Maybe something travelling at that speed can stop in 1 year and be even closer to analyze the chemistry of each planet.

[@stevo12378]

there not going to go public with all this without knowing things we don't .all this stuff has probably been going a lot longer than we know .looking forward to what they do next .

[@LordBitememan]

I'm cool with using them in the solar system. So much to learn about the extreme outer solar system still.

[@coltsrule5150]

At a maximum speed of about 17,600 mph (about 28,300 kph), it would take the space shuttle, for example, about 165,000 years to reach Alpha Centauri. A 330,000 year round trip.

[@frasercain]

I wouldn't want to take the space shuttle on that voyage.

[@maccumanzu7186]

was watching. .. heard mention of HL3 release date. ... Liked the video and subcribed

[@maxtello1495]

Amazing

[@seanhartnett79]

Great video any way.

[@marajevomanash]

The most economical way to go about doing this is to just keep sending miniature probes with foldable solar panels and rechargeable batteries propelled by solar sails. Their data should be collected on an ongoing basis. Over time, they'll send data from more star systems than we ever expected.

[@JurijSlavec]

Hi Fraser, when sending those miniature space probes would/could they slingshot somewhere in our solar system?

[@egooidios5061]

It is true, We cannot dream of trips to other stars when we do not have a lunar base yet, and we have not even visited Mars or Titan or Europa. Truth is, there is plenty of expansion space around here. Let's get there first.

[@frasercain]

The Moon is a great place to test out our ideas of space exploration. Succeed there first and then we can learn to go other places.

[@renlentlesstourist7574]

impossible is my triggering word. I now need the snowflake mountain retreat!!!

[@frasercain]

I love that. Trigger warning... "some people think this is impossible". :-)