{"id":19150,"date":"2016-12-05T21:17:55","date_gmt":"2016-12-05T13:17:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/video-how-will-we-get-to-alpha-centauri-researchers-work-on-an-antimatter-drive\/"},"modified":"2016-12-05T21:17:55","modified_gmt":"2016-12-05T13:17:55","slug":"video-how-will-we-get-to-alpha-centauri-researchers-work-on-an-antimatter-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/video-how-will-we-get-to-alpha-centauri-researchers-work-on-an-antimatter-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"Video: How will we get to Alpha Centauri? Researchers work on an antimatter drive"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_294426\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-294426\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-294426 size-full-width\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/161205-antimatter-positronics-630x452.jpg\" alt=\"Positron rocket engine\" width=\"630\" height=\"452\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/161205-antimatter-positronics-630x452.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/161205-antimatter-positronics.jpg 703w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-294426\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An artist\u2019s conception shows a positron rocket engine. (Positronics Research via NASA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Project Blue\u2019s scientists still have to raise more than $800,000 over the next 15 days to reach their&nbsp;initial crowdfunding goal for a mission to observe Alpha Centauri\u2019s alien planets, but they\u2019re already thinking about how future explorers could get there.<\/p>\n<p>It would take tens of thousands of years to make the 4.37-light-year trip using the best rocket propulsion that\u2019s available today.<\/p>\n<p>But a video created&nbsp;by Speculative Films, with input from Project Blue as well as Positron Dynamics, focuses on how antimatter propulsion could&nbsp;reduce that travel time to 40 years.<\/p>\n<p>Antimatter drives have been a science-fiction standby since the original \u201cStar Trek\u201d TV series. They\u2019ve also been the subject of real-world research. Almost two decades ago, researchers were talking with NASA about an antimatter-driven sail that could send a spacecraft to&nbsp;Alpha Centauri in the 40-year time frame.<\/p>\n<p>Positron Dynamics\u2019 concept calls for cooling down a stream of positrons&nbsp;\u2014 the antimatter equivalent of electrons&nbsp;\u2014 and smashing them into a stream of electrons. Theoretically, that could produce enough oomph to accelerate a probe to more than one-tenth of the speed of light.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Traveling to Alpha Centauri?\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qtXh9_WaP2s?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are some challenges&nbsp;\u2014 you know, radiation&nbsp;\u2014 but we think the engineering constraints are within limits of feasibility,\u201d CEO Ryan Weed said.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the Breakthrough Starshot project is working on a laser-driven propulsion system that could send cracker-sized probes past Alpha Centauri after a 20-year cruise.<\/p>\n<p>A report drawn up by U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, calls on NASA to study the feasibility of launching a mission to Alpha Centauri, one way or the other, by the centennial of the Apollo 11 moon landing in 2069.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, Culberson&nbsp;told ScienceInsider that he\u2019s been talking with President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s transition team about the need to make sure \u201cthat it will be an American spacecraft that discovers life on another world, and achieves interstellar travel, and explores an Earthlike planet around a nearby star.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s lots of support for that in the incoming Congress and in the new administration,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The technical challenges seem daunting,&nbsp;and even if the antimatter drives or laser-beaming antennas become realities, a mission to Alpha Centauri would cost billions of dollars. Is the trip worth the cost? It just might be, if Project Blue\u2019s telescope really does detect signs of life on the worlds in Alpha Centauri\u2019s neighborhood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An artist\u2019s conception shows a positron rocket engine. (Positronics Research via NASA) Project Blue\u2019s scientists still have to raise more than $800,000 over the next 15 days to reach their&nbsp;initial crowdfunding goal for a mission to observe Alpha Centauri\u2019s alien planets, but they\u2019re already thinking about how future explorers could get there. It would take [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3752,2454,1874,559,5331],"class_list":["post-19150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-alpha-centauri","tag-antimatter","tag-astrobiology","tag-exoplanets","tag-project-blue"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19150"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19150\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}