NASA to send space probe to neighbouring star system Alpha Centauri to search for alien life

NASA is planning a space mission to our nearest star system Alpha Centauri in an attempt to find intelligent life.

The mission – scheduled for the 100th anniversary of the first moon landing in 2069 – will require a spacecraft capable of travelling at 10% of the speed of light.

Artist's impression of Proxima B, the planet orbiting Proxima Centauri which could host alien life

The project is still unnamed and the technology to build the probe doesn't exist yet.

British expat Anthony Freeman of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) – who presented the mission concept at the 2017 American Geophysical Union conference – told New Scientist: “It’s very nebulous.”

If a spacecraft travelling at that speed could be built, it would still take at least 44 years before the probe could reach Alpha Centauri.

The calculation doesn't take into account how long the spacecraft will need to accelerate out of our Solar System and decelerate on approach of its final destination, which could add decades to the estimated time required to complete the journey.

This image of the sky shows the position of Alpha Centauri AB and Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our Solar System

From there, a radio signal carrying information about any discovery will take 4 years from the moment it's sent to moment it's received by scientists on our planet.

Alpha Centauri is 24.9 trillion miles from Earth (4.4 light-years away) and consists of three stars: Centauri A, Centauri B and Proxima Centauri, the closest to us.

The star system is of particular interest to scientists because it's likely to include planets similar to Earth, like the one discovered orbiting around Proxima Centauri.

The planet, which was given the name of Proxima B, offers the right conditions to sustain extraterrestrial life, thanks to the distance from its sun, which allows mild temperatures and water to form on its surface.

New planet Proxima b found, which could be colonised by humans

So far only one human-made spacecraft, Voyager 1, has left our solar system, and has been flying towards the unknown for almost 40 years. The speed Voyager 1 is travelling at (38,000mph) is less than 1% the speed of light.

To achieve the desired speed, NASA is considering sending tiny probes, potentially containing microorganism, propelled by lasers at around a quarter the speed of light, New Scientists reports.

The space agency is also looking at other options, such as exploiting nuclear techniques or collisions between matter and antimatter to produce the amount of power required.

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