Space Dust Will Destroy Tiny Spacecraft On Its Way To Proxima Centauri

A flying tiny circuit board with a fifth of the speed of light is at risk of being destroyed by a space dust, failing humans to reach the destination - Proxima Centauri. The circuit board is already traveling 25 trillion miles across the universe moving at a one fifth of the speed of light - and nothing on Earth moves that fast yet.

It was billionaire Yuri Milner who started the project to send Breakthrough Starshot, the ultra tiny laser-powered spacecraft to the nearest star system to the Solar System called Alpha Centauri. However, the promising project is not facing a problem since even the tiniest speck could harm the spacecraft because of its ultra speed. According to the News Scientist, the project has $100 million worth of funding and will probably take more.

The Harvard University study wants to examine the would-be effects of interstellar gas and dust on a dauntless nanocraft. And their analysis showed that even a hundredth of a millimeter speck could destroy the small spacecraft. Considering the speed and distance the spacecraft is traveling to, there is a 30 percent chance that it would be gone even before it reaches its destination.

Recent proposals to improve the spacecraft involve an additional graphite layer acting as a shield. And further, incorporate built-in mechanisms to tuck in and out the laser-powered sail to make the trip safe and sound. However, weight is the ultimate enemy of speedy spaceflight so it will likely slow it down, as mentioned in Popular Science.

Scientists are so intrigued with Proxima Centauri's planets, making them want to see what's awaiting for humans - another home or alien neighbors? Breakthrough Starshot is still trying to fulfill its ambition to reach the star and not a speck will stop it from doing so. The analysis of the study was published in the Cornell University Library website.