Could NASA send a space probe to Alpha Centauri? How long would it take?

Question

Could we send a space probe to our nearest star, Alpha Centauri, that would still have enough power to send back information/pictures when it got there? How fast (as a % of the speed of light) could such a probe travel using existing technology? How many years would elapse from launch to when we got our first pictures back?

Answer 1

Alpha Centauri is 4.35 Light years away. The fastest probe launched by the US that will escape the Solar System is the New Horizons mission to Pluto. It is currently traveling a 5.414 AU's per year. At that rate it would take 51012.41 years to get there.

Answer 2

I believe we could. I am no rocket scientist, but I have done some research, and for some reason all our space probes have been sent using basic rockets to launch from Earth's surface. I have NO IDEA why they would not get a clue and send up a couple of other vehicles first, and have the probe sent up from the surface to rendezvous with them. This way there can be an initial rocket fired stage for the probe (after it is already in orbit), which could burn either solid propellant or liquid hydrogen and oxygen, and then there can be a second stage, which can be an ion drive system, like the fastest space probes have. That stage can be bigger and have more propellant than the typical super-fast probes have, because it can be put into space all on its own. Remember that this stage only fires after a long burn of the first stage rocket pushes the whole thing up to 50,000 or maybe even 100,000 miles per hour first.

Remember that the biggest rockets are primarily used to launch things from earth, overcoming gravity. Once they are out in space, doing about 20,000 miles per hour, they will have very little resistance (gravity) to acceleration. All they will have to overcome is a tiny bit of gravity and their own inertia, which will decrease as they burn/use propellant. I have no doubt the trip will be long. If the probe can be accelerated up to almost half the speed of light it will take about 10 years to get to Alpha Centauri. It may be impossible to get to such a high speed, but I think it could be accelerated up to quarter of the speed of light . . . if it is built light enough, with materials like carbon nanotubules.

The probe itself does not have to be big. Just fifty pounds is enough to have a 20 bl. solar powered ion drive maneuvering rocket, a 10 lb. solar panel, a 5 lb. dish antenna, a 3 lb. camera and lens, a few pounds of shielding, and a 1 lb. computer (similar to what's inside a modern smart phone). Even with redundant systems and a couple of 2 lb. batteries it should not weigh more than 50 lbs. That means the bulk of what we launch into space would be the various vehicle stages and propellant. Using Jupiter to slingshot the vehicle out of the solar system, it SHOULD be able to get to a very high speed, even inside our solar system. With a small nuclear reactor, like in the Cassini probe, the final "vehicle" stage could power the an ion drive unit for a few years, even as the probe moves out of our solar system, so it could accelerate for a few years, to get up to the highest speed possible.

Could a vehicle powerful enough be put into orbit in 3 launches? I think so, but even if not, they could send up 5 or 6 rockets, so they can fill the tanks in the primary, chemically propelled stage. The International Space Station was built with way more launches than that (about 36 space shuttle launches), at a cost of about $150 billion. I believe that a probe to Alpha Centauri could be built and launched for less than $20 billion . . . less than 10% of the cost of just one year of the war between the U.S. and Iraq. I believe that such a cost would be money well worthwhile, considering what it would mean to the people of Earth for all history.

Even if it takes the probe 50 years to get there, it is worth doing. Remember it will be a solar powered probe, which is propelled initially by chemical rockets, a slingshot maneuver around Jupiter, and a nuclear powered ion drive module, which uses a few tons of xenon as propellant. As the solar powered probe approaches the distant stars, the solar panels will collect enough energy coming from Alpha Centauri to recharge the batteries and begin sending images back to Earth on a daily basis, rather than monthly. Eventually the vehicle will be able to switch to weekly communications, and then daily. When it enters the Alpha Centauri system, it will be able to start shooting lots of photos and videos, taking measurements of all types, and sending communications back to Earth hourly. Eventually it will be able to send information (including higher resolution photos and videos) every minute and then on a continual basis. This will be a truly amazing event in human history, and I think we should strive to achieve it as soon as possible.

Is half or even quarter of the speed of light achievable in reality, vs. theory? I think so. We just have to put our minds to it.

Answer 3

Technically, the nearest star to us is the Sun, and Alpha Centauri is actually a triple star system.

At the speed of light, it should take a little over 4 years to get there.

If you traveled at 1% the speed of light, which is 6,706,166 miles per hour (and 4 light-years is about 2.351e13 miles), then it would take about 400 years to get there.

A quick Google search told me that the fastest spacecraft to date was Helios 1 and 2, and they reached a speed of 158,000 miles per hour (while orbiting the Sun). At that rate, it would take nearly 17,000 years to reach the Centauri system.

So with current technology, the answer is: No, NASA could not send a probe to Alpha Centauri.

Answer 4

Unlikely. With current technology, a space probe would take more than 16000 years to get to Alpha Centauri. Current space probes travel through space at little more than the escape velocity of earth orbit (about 7 km/s)

Answer 5

Theoretically we could but Alpha Centauri is about 4.35 light years from us which is about 41,154,480,000,000 kilometers. A spaceprobe travelling at 9 kilometers per second(which is approximetly the average speed) it would take it 3,480,000 years to reach Alpha Centauri and it would take about another 5 years for images to reach back.It could not use solar panels as there would be no sun[it would become a distant star]so nuclear power could be palpable(all calculations made by using speed if light as 3x10^8 meters per second and using available technology)

Answer 6

Alpha centauri lies about 4.22 light years away,so if a spacecraft with our technology is sent there, it would not have the capacity to hold that much power nor would it even reach there in ten thousand years!(this might be an exaggeration).Even if it did reach there and send a message to earth, it would take 4.22 years(all electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light) to come here!!!!!

Answer 7

Looking at the answers you got...Time frame of between 50 years to 3 1/2 million years, I'd look it up myself if I really wanted the truth. Google or Yahoo search.

Answer 8

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!to do that would cost America BILLIONS of dollars and permanently damage it's economy. Even if it could be done it would take hundreds of light years and soon transmissions would lose contact with earth. It would ultimately be a waste of time and money.

Answer 9

it would take a few million years to get there and would take 3 years for the pictures to get here.