NASA To Launch Interstellar Mission To Alpha Centauri By 2069

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have announced their plans to explore a neighboring star system, the Alpha Centauri. NASA hopes to launch the mission sometime in 2069 with the help of robotic spacecraft.

According to New Scientist, NASA hopes to explore the Alpha Centauri to finally put the question of whether or not there is life in space to rest. The project has yet to receive a name, considering that it is still in its conception stages, but Anthony Freeman Jet Propulsion Laboratory expressed his excitement and shared that mission is going to be launched in light of the revelation that the star system is nebulous.

Furthermore, the mission seems to have been inspired by the 2016 U.S. funding bill that instructed the space agency to pour their efforts in studying interstellar travel that will introduce a spacecraft that can at least reach 10 percent of the speed of light by 2069.

Meanwhile, reports indicate that the Alpha Centauri is of special interest because of its relatively short distance from the Earth's galaxy. It is 24.9 trillion miles from Earth and is comprised of three stars: Centauri A, Centauri B, and Proxima Centauri. A plane that looks like Earth was discovered in the same region of space last year and it is believed to be holding alien life. Specifically, Proxima Centauri is known as the habitable zone as it features a temperature that allows water to remain liquid on the surface.

Despite this, NASA has shared that mission is expected to be difficult because of the speed needed to achieve a landing on any of the planets on Alpha Centauri. Furthermore, if there is alien life, they would be featuring different characteristics as they could have been affected by the radiation from the powerful UV rays and X-rays from Proxima Cenaturi. Regardless, more information is expected to be released in the coming months.