Sentences with word «nanocraft»

«Eventually, every mission that NASA does may carry these sorts of nanocraft to perform various measurements,» he says.

It proposes to use the $ 100 million to learn whether it's possible to use a 100 - gigawatt light beam and light sails to propel some 1,000 ultra-lightweight nanocraft to 20 % of light speed.

Scientists hope the vehicles, known as nanocraft, will eventually fly at 20 percent of the speed of light, more than a thousand times faster than today's spacecraft.

In April, it announced a plan to put $ 100 million toward developing new technology that could send a fleet of tiny nanocrafts toward Alpha Centauri.

Breakthrough Starshot is a proof - of - concept initiative to send a fleet of ultra-fast light - driven nanocraft to explore the Alpha Centauri system, which could pave the way for a first launch within the next generation.

«We hope to build a whole system that will send nanocraft to Proxima Centauri and Alpha Centauri within a generation,» said Worden, the executive director of Breakthrough Starshot, an initiative that aims to deploy thousands of tiny spacecraft to travel to our nearest neighboring star system and send back pictures.

They will be seeking confirmation that it's possible to use a 100 - gigawatt light beam to propel approximately 1,000 ultra-lightweight nanocraft to 20 percent of light speed.

If the nanocraft reach the star system and succeed in taking photographs, it would take about another four years to transmit them back to Earth.

Worden acknowledges challenges, including the nanocraft surviving impact on launch.

He envisions sending a larger conventional spacecraft containing thousands of nanocraft into orbit, and then launching the nanocraft one by one, he said in an interview.

A still image taken from a video rendering shows a nanocraft which could be used on Breakthrough Starshot, a $ 100 million research and engineering program aiming to demonstrate proof of concept for light - propelled spacecrafts.

A beryllium or graphite coating could protect the electronics, and as another precaution, researchers could reduce the number of collisions by folding up the sail after the nanocraft is beyond the reach of Earth - based lasers.

A conventional rocket would carry hundreds to thousands of these nanocraft into space, releasing them into high - Earth orbit.

The nanocraft would face additional obstacles, primarily in the form of dust and gas encountered en route to the Alpha Centauri system.

These «nanocraft» would be attached to ultrathin sails about a few square meters in area and weighing a few grams.

Knowing where the nearest exoplanets are is of paramount interest for Breakthrough Starshot, the research and engineering programme launched in April 2016, which aims to demonstrate proof of concept for ultra-fast light - driven «nanocraft,» laying the foundation for the first launch to Alpha Centauri within a generation.

A wealthy Russian named Yuri Milner and the famous physicist Stephen Hawking announced a project to study whether very small «nanocraft» could be sent to the Alpha Centauri system.

The distance may be vast, but it could be relatively easy for Starshot's nanocraft or other interstellar travelers to blast through and beam back information to Earth about the system with a bit more than a four - year delay.