Stephen Hawking working on spacecraft that could reach ‘Second Earth’ in 20 years
The tiny probe could send back images of a planet in the habitable zone of Alpha Centauri, the nearest star to our solar system, about 25 years after taking off
- Ian Johnston Science Correspondent
- @montaukian
- Wednesday 21 June 2017 14:34 BST
The renowned physicist Stephen Hawking is working on a spacecraft that can travel at a fifth of the speed of light – meaning it could reach the nearest star and send back images of a suspected ‘Second Earth’ within 25 years – in a bid to save humanity.
In a speech at the Starmus Festival, Professor Hawking warned humans must soon colonise another planet if we are to survive.
One explanation for why Earth has not been contacted by an advanced civilisations from another part of the Universe is that every time ‘intelligent’ life evolves it annihilates itself with “war, disease and weapons of mass destruction”, he said.
And in addition to the chance that we will meet this fate, Professor Hawking said the planet had become too small for our burgeoning population with its “physical resources … being drained at an alarming rate”. Climate change, an asteroid strike or some other kind of cataclysmic cosmic event also pose significant threats.
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