The first interstellar ship is already flying through space

It is not the first time that we speak in ActualidadGadget about the interest that many researchers and fans of space travel have in how humans can reach other planets. The idea that this group has is precisely that of work and find different exploration paths to those who follow the different space agencies of the world, thus demonstrating that another mentality is possible.

It must be recognized that one of the great wishes of the human being, at least since we have memory use and the stories pass from parents to children, is precisely to be able to travel among the stars, an idea that has originated many studies, countless books and movies and even video games. Until now a very distant idea for humans, at least until science has advanced to the present day allowing different ideas can come true.

Breakthorugh, a group of scientists capable of exploring the Universe in alternative ways

With this in mind, it is much simpler to understand what a group of independent researchers and all kinds of people with common knowledge and interests in this type of technological advance are doing. Thanks to this, something like a year or so ago we learned about creation Breakthrough, an association that after all this time has just announced that they have finally achieved their goal.

Now, before continuing, confess that we are not talking about a group with sufficient funding to be able to design and especially manufacture a ship capable of transporting a larger or only reduced group of people inside it, this would be too much complicated and unfortunately technology would not make it possible, at least for the moment as some voices capable of representing Breakthrough have already commented.

Sprite, an interstellar ship of only 3,5 centimeters in diameter and 4 grams in weight

Going into a little more detail, apparently the day June 23 of this year 2017, the research group managed to launch into space what they themselves have called their first experimental batch made up of no less than six units of this new class of interstellar spacecraft. These six units have been baptized with the name of Sprites and stand out for having a size of only 3,5 centimeters in diameter, which allows them to standardize a weight of only about four grams.

The most interesting thing about all this, hence they have been called by the group of researchers as a new generation of interstellar spacecraft, is that thanks to the miniaturization of components, the researchers and engineers behind this development have managed to integrate and leave space for an antenna, a processor and a few tiny sensors in charge of taking measurements regarding the state and situation of the Sprite.

These ships are expected to be able to reach Alpha Centauri in just 20 years.

The main objective of this project is to launch thousands of these spaceships to Alpha Centauri, in case you don't know, we talk about interstellar system closest to ours. The idea behind this project is very simple, if we manage to create machines that are really small, we could reach the different corners of the universe much faster and in a much easier way.

As for the project itself, as its managers have commented, its start-up was a success and these ships are already in operation. Their objective is that each and every one of them can travel to a top speed of about 60.000 kilometers per hour and that, once they have reached Alpha Centauri, they can continue sending data to our planet.

According to the calculations carried out by those responsible for this project, it seems that we will still have to wait about 20 years until these ships can reach Alpha Centauri. Compared to current technology, tell you that, in case of launching a rocket, we would have to wait about 100 years.

Further information: Geek