NASA sets date to the mission with which they will reach Alpha Centauri, 2069

Without a doubt, if they know something in NASA it is about setting dates for future missions. On this occasion, I have to admit that the fact that someone at the agency has been interested in raising the idea of ​​even one has caught my attention. mission to Alpha Centauri, the solar system closest to ours, and above all the fact that NASA officials have supported it.

The idea that he has in the United States Space Agency is none other than to launch a mission to this solar system, according to the statement published by the agency's own press department, we talk about what will be the first interstellar mission carried out by man. Undoubtedly a name with which to sell the mission that draws a lot of attention, at least until you keep reading and realize that they estimate to carry it out in 2069.

NASA already tells us about the first interstellar mission carried out by the human being

Personally, I have to confess that this has caught my attention, especially if we take into account that the missions to get to Mars are practically all being delayed because today the human being does not have the necessary technology. It is true that in a very few years much progress has been made in this field and that we are talking about a long-term mission, just as true as the fact that, despite the possibility of carrying out an interstellar mission such as is, at NASA they have no idea how to get it.

As a detail, tell you that according to the forecast of NASA itself, none of us who are alive today will be able to know if it has finally been possible to reach Alpha Centauri or not since, despite the fact that the mission could take shape and leave of the Earth that same year 2069, would not reach the Alpha Centauri solar system for at least a century, 100 years of waiting that can 'make very long', especially if we take into account the limitations of the current technology that we have.

Why announce a mission in 2017 that begins in 2069? Why 2069, neither before nor after?

However… Why announce a mission in 2017 that will begin in 2069? Literally and as can be read in certain comments made by senior managers within NASA, it is because the agency assumes that in the period of 50 years of development it will have been possible to create new propulsion systems much more powerful and above all advanced, Enough that you can travel through space at a speed that would be 10% that of light, no more. This translates into the data that it previously offered, a probe launched in the direction of Alpha Centauri, it would take about 100 years to travel the 4.2 million light years that separate our solar system from the destination of the probe.

Another question that surely comes to mind is that of, Why 2069, neither before nor after? According to NASA they have chosen this year because at that time it would be 100 years since the arrival of Apollo XI to the Moon, a very important milestone in the history of the human being and for this there is nothing better than to launch an interstellar mission with which search for extraterrestrial life on one of the exoplanets that exist in Alpha Centauri.

For now, the main objective is to observe space to find exoplanets that can host life

Without a doubt there is still a long time, no less than 50 years, until this mission can take shape, one 'eternity' where many things can happen that can give the 'fret'with a mission It has been programmed too far in advance, it could even be the fact that the human being has the necessary technology to carry it out much earlier, why not?

Meanwhile the main objective of space observation is to locate exoplanets located within the so-called 'habitable zone' possessed by all the stars, that is, at a sufficient distance so that the temperatures are not too high or too cold to support life.