Part 7/16:
Interstellar travel, once confined to science fiction, is edging closer to reality with projects like Yuri Milner’s StarChip fleet—tiny spacecraft designed to reach Alpha Centauri, our closest star system, just over four light-years away. Using light sails propelled by lasers, these spacecraft could potentially make the journey within 20 to 30 years, with messages returning to Earth just four years later.
Milner envisions a fleet of around 1,000 small probes reaching Proxima Centauri b, an exoplanet situated in the habitable zone. The scientific and exploratory implications of such missions could profoundly expand our understanding of distant worlds and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.