Breakthrough Initiatives

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Breakthrough Initiatives is a science-based program founded in 2015 and funded by Julia and Yuri Milner, [1] also of Breakthrough Prize, to search for extraterrestrial intelligence over a span of at least 10 years. The program is divided into multiple projects. Breakthrough Listen will comprise an effort to search over 1,000,000 stars for artificial radio or laser signals. A parallel project called Breakthrough Message is an effort to create a message "representative of humanity and planet Earth". [2] [3] The project Breakthrough Starshot, co-founded with Mark Zuckerberg, [4] aims to send a swarm of probes to the nearest star at about 20% the speed of light. The project Breakthrough Watch aims to identify and characterize Earth-sized, rocky planets around Alpha Centauri and other stars within 20 light years of Earth. [5] Breakthrough plans to send a mission to Saturn's moon Enceladus, [6] in search for life in its warm ocean, and in 2018 signed a partnership agreement with NASA for the project. [7]

Contents

History

The Breakthrough Initiatives were announced to the public on 20 July 2015, at London's Royal Society by physicist Stephen Hawking. Russian tycoon Yuri Milner created the Initiatives to search for intelligent extraterrestrial life in the Universe and consider a plan for possibly transmitting messages out into space. [8] [9] The announcement included an open letter co-signed by multiple scientists, including Hawking, expressing support for an intensified search for alien radio communications. During the public launch, Hawking said: "In an infinite Universe, there must be other life. There is no bigger question. It is time to commit to finding the answer." [10] [11]

The US$100 million cash infusion is projected to mark up the pace of SETI research over the early 2000s rate, and will nearly double the rate NASA was spending on SETI research annually in approximately 1973–1993. [9]

Projects

Breakthrough Listen

The Green Bank Telescope is one of the radio telescopes used by the Breakthrough Listen project. GBT.png
The Green Bank Telescope is one of the radio telescopes used by the Breakthrough Listen project.

Breakthrough Listen is a program to search for intelligent extraterrestrial communications in the Universe. [8] [10] [12] With $100 million in funding and thousands of hours of dedicated telescope time on state-of-the-art facilities, it is the most comprehensive search for alien communications to date. [10] [12] The project began in January 2016, and is expected to continue for 10 years. [13]

The project uses radio wave observations from the Green Bank Observatory and the Parkes Observatory, and visible light observations from the Automated Planet Finder. [14] Targets for the project include one million nearby stars and the centers of 100 galaxies. All data generated from the project are available to the public, and SETI@Home is used for some of the data analysis. The first results were published in April 2017, with further updates expected every 6 months.

Breakthrough Message

The Breakthrough Message program is to study the ethics of sending messages into deep space. [12] It also launched an open competition with a US$1 million prize pool, to design a digital message that could be transmitted from Earth to an extraterrestrial civilization. The message should be "representative of humanity and planet Earth". The program pledges "not to transmit any message until there has been a global debate at high levels of science and politics on the risks and rewards of contacting advanced civilizations". [15]

Breakthrough Starshot

On 24 August 2016, ESO hosted a press conference to discuss the announcement of exoplanet Proxima b at its headquarters in Germany. In this picture, Pete Worden giving a speech. Press Conference at ESO HQ2.tif
On 24 August 2016, ESO hosted a press conference to discuss the announcement of exoplanet Proxima b at its headquarters in Germany. In this picture, Pete Worden giving a speech.

Breakthrough Starshot, announced 12 April 2016, is a US$100 million program to develop a proof-of-concept light sail spacecraft fleet capable of making the journey to Alpha Centauri at 20% the speed of light (60,000 km/s or 215 million km/h) taking about 20 years to get there, [16] [17] and about 4 years to notify Earth of a successful arrival. [16] [18] [19]

The interstellar journey may include a flyby of Proxima Centauri b , an Earth-sized exoplanet that is in the habitable zone of its host star in the Alpha Centauri system. [20] From a distance of 1 Astronomical Unit (150 million kilometers or 93 million miles), the four cameras on each of the spacecraft could potentially capture an image of high enough quality to resolve surface features. [21] The spacecraft fleet would have 1000 craft, and each craft, named StarChip , [22] would be a very small centimeter-sized craft weighing several grams. [22] They would be propelled by several ground-based lasers of up to 100 gigawatts. [23] Each tiny spacecraft would transmit data back to Earth using a compact on-board laser communications system. [23] Pete Worden is the head of this project. [24] [25] The conceptual principles to enable this interstellar travel project were described in "A Roadmap to Interstellar Flight", by Philip Lubin of UC Santa Barbara. [26] [27] METI president Douglas Vakoch summarized the significance of the project, saying that "by sending hundreds or thousands of space probes the size of postage stamps, Breakthrough Starshot gets around the hazards of spaceflight that could easily end a mission relying on a single spacecraft. Only one nanocraft needs to make its way to Alpha Centauri and send back a signal for the mission to be successful. When that happens, Starshot will make history." [28]

In July 2017, scientists announced that precursors to StarChip, named Sprites, were successfully launched and flown. [29]

Breakthrough Watch

Breakthrough Watch is a multimillion-dollar astronomical program to develop Earth- and space-based technologies that can find Earth-like planets in our cosmic neighborhood – and try to establish whether they host life. [30] The project aims to identify and characterize Earth-sized, rocky planets around Alpha Centauri and other stars within 20 light years of Earth, in search of oxygen and other "biosignatures." [5]

Breakthrough Enceladus

Breakthrough Enceladus is an astrobiology space probe mission concept to explore the possibility of life on Saturn's moon, Enceladus. [6] In September 2018, NASA signed a collaboration agreement with Breakthrough to jointly create the mission concept. [31] This mission would be the first privately funded deep space mission. [7] It would study the content of the plumes ejecting from Enceladus's warm ocean through its southern ice crust. [32] Enceladus's ice crust is thought to be around two to five kilometers thick, [33] and a probe could use an ice-penetrating radar to constrain its structure. [34]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstellar travel</span> Hypothetical travel between stars or planetary systems

Interstellar travel is the hypothetical travel of spacecraft from one star system, solitary star, or planetary system to another. Interstellar travel is expected to prove much more difficult than interplanetary spaceflight due to the vast difference in the scale of the involved distances. Whereas the distance between any two planets in the Solar System is less than 55 astronomical units (AU), stars are typically separated by hundreds of thousands of AU, causing these distances to typically be expressed instead in light-years. Because of the vastness of these distances, non-generational interstellar travel based on known physics would need to occur at a high percentage of the speed of light; even so, travel times would be long, at least decades and perhaps millennia or longer.

The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is a collective term for scientific searches for intelligent extraterrestrial life, for example, monitoring electromagnetic radiation for signs of transmissions from civilizations on other planets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space exploration</span> Exploration of space, planets, and moons

Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. While the exploration of space is currently carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration is conducted both by uncrewed robotic space probes and human spaceflight. Space exploration, like its classical form astronomy, is one of the main sources for space science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Starship</span> Spacecraft designed for interstellar travel

A starship, starcraft, or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between planetary systems. The term is mostly found in science fiction. Reference to a "star-ship" appears as early as 1882 in Oahspe: A New Bible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Project Longshot</span> Design for a 400 tonne nuclear pulse propelled uncrewed spacecraft to reach and orbit Alpha Centauri

Project Longshot was a conceptual interstellar spacecraft design. It would have been an uncrewed starship, intended to fly to and enter orbit around Alpha Centauri B powered by nuclear pulse propulsion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstellar probe</span> Space probe that can travel out of the Solar System

An interstellar probe is a space probe that has left—or is expected to leave—the Solar System and enter interstellar space, which is typically defined as the region beyond the heliopause. It also refers to probes capable of reaching other star systems.

Project Icarus is a theoretical engineering design study aimed at designing a credible, mainly nuclear fusion-based, unmanned interstellar space probe. Project Icarus was an initiative of members of the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) and the Tau Zero Foundation (TZF) started in 2009. The project was under the stewardship of Icarus Interstellar until 2019. It remains a BIS project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuri Milner</span> Israeli entrepreneur and physicist (born 1961)

Yuri Borisovich (Bentsionovich) Milner is a Soviet-born Israeli entrepreneur, investor, physicist and scientist. He is a co-founder and former chairperson of internet company Mail.Ru Group, and a founder of investment firm DST Global. Through DST Global, Milner is an investor in Byju's, Facebook, Wish, and many other enterprises.

Kevin L.G. Parkin is an American British scientist who is best known for his study of beamed energy propulsion.

The Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is) is a UK-registered not-for-profit company, whose objectives are education and research into the challenges of Interstellar Travel. It pioneered small-scale laser sail interstellar probes and missions to interstellar objects. Several of its principals were involved in the 100 Year Starship winning team originated by NASA and DARPA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breakthrough Listen</span> Initiative to search for intelligent extraterrestrial life

Breakthrough Listen is a project to search for intelligent extraterrestrial communications in the Universe. With $100 million in funding and thousands of hours of dedicated telescope time on state-of-the-art facilities, it is the most comprehensive search for alien communications to date. The project began in January 2016, and is expected to continue for 10 years. It is a component of Yuri Milner's Breakthrough Initiatives program. The science program for Breakthrough Listen is based at Berkeley SETI Research Center, located in the Astronomy Department at the University of California, Berkeley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Project Dragonfly (space study)</span> Feasibility study of a small laser-propelled interstellar probe

Project Dragonfly is the first conceptual design study that assesses the feasibility of a laser-propelled interstellar probe, conducted by the Initiative for Interstellar Studies. Contrary to past unmanned interstellar mission studies such as Project Daedalus and Project Icarus, the focus is particularly on a small spacecraft. The project was founded in 2013 by the Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breakthrough Starshot</span> Interstellar probe project

Breakthrough Starshot is a research and engineering project by the Breakthrough Initiatives to develop a proof-of-concept fleet of light sail interstellar probes named Starchip, to be capable of making the journey to the Alpha Centauri star system 4.34 light-years away. It was founded in 2016 by Yuri Milner, Stephen Hawking, and Mark Zuckerberg.

The future of space exploration involves both telescopic exploration and the physical exploration of space by robotic spacecraft and human spaceflight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berkeley SETI Research Center</span>

The Berkeley SETI Research Center (BSRC) conducts experiments searching for optical and electromagnetic transmissions from intelligent extraterrestrial civilizations. The center is based at the University of California, Berkeley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2069 Alpha Centauri mission</span> NASA concept for uncrewed probe - possibly a light sail

In December 2017, NASA released a mission concept involving the launch, in 2069, of an interstellar probe to search for signs of life on planets orbiting stars in and around the Alpha Centauri system. The announcement was at the annual conference of the American Geophysical Union. The mission remains a concept, and as such, has no name or allocated funding.

Project Starlight is a research project of the University of California, Santa Barbara to develop a fleet of laser beam-propelled interstellar probes and sending them to a star neighboring the Solar System, potentially Alpha Centauri. The project aims to send organisms on board the probe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breakthrough Enceladus mission</span> Astrobiology mission

Breakthrough Enceladus is a proposed privately funded astrobiology mission by Breakthrough Initiatives founded by Yuri Milner. Its aim is to assess the possibility of life on Saturn's moon Enceladus. NASA will be “providing expert reviewers and feedback on their design". Corey S. Powell, editor-in-chief of Discover magazine, reporting for NBC News stated that the mission was particularly notable as it would "rewrite the rules of space exploration," being potentially the first to find proof of complex life in the solar system, as it is "riskier than anything NASA would attempt on its own."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas Vakoch</span> American pro-contact astrobiologist (born 1961)

Douglas A. Vakoch is an American astrobiologist, search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) researcher, psychologist, and president of METI International, a nonprofit research and educational organization devoted to transmitting intentional signals to extraterrestrial civilizations. Vakoch led METI's participation in Sónar Calling GJ 273b, which transmitted a series of interstellar messages to Luyten's Star, located 12.4 light years from Earth. Vakoch advocates ongoing transmission projects, arguing that this does not increase risks of an alien invasion as suggested by British cosmologist Stephen Hawking. He has participated in several SETI observation programs, and after sixteen years at the SETI Institute, where he was director of Interstellar Message Composition, Vakoch founded METI International. He has edited over a dozen books in SETI, astrobiology, the psychology of space exploration, and ecocriticism. He is general editor of two-book series in ecocriticism and in the intersection of space and society. Vakoch has appeared widely on television and radio as a commentator on SETI and astrobiology. He is an emeritus professor of clinical psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BLC1</span> Narrowband radio signal detected in April and May 2019

BLC1 was a candidate SETI radio signal detected and observed during April and May 2019, and first reported on 18 December 2020, spatially coincident with the direction of the Solar System's closest star, Proxima Centauri.

References

  1. ↑ "Breakthrough Initiatives - About". Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  2. ↑ Lendino, Jamie (20 July 2015). "Stephen Hawking, Milner unveil $100M initiative to 'dramatically accelerate' search for alien life". ExtremeTech . Archived from the original on 11 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  3. ↑ Johnson, Steven (28 June 2017). "Greetings, E.T. (Please Don't Murder Us.)". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  4. ↑ Seung, Lee (13 April 2016). "Mark Zuckerberg just joined a new project to explore the universe faster". Newsweek . Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Breakthrough Initiatives". breakthroughinitiatives.org. Archived from the original on 23 February 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  6. 1 2 Powell, Corey S. (19 December 2018). "Billionaire aims to jump-start search for alien life and rewrite rules of space exploration". NBC News . Archived from the original on 20 December 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  7. 1 2 Harris, Mark (8 November 2018). "NASA is giving advice to Yuri Milner's private mission to Enceladus". New Scientist . Archived from the original on 18 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019. The first private mission to deep space is gathering momentum.
  8. 1 2 Feltman, Rachel (20 July 2015). "Stephen Hawking announces $100 million hunt for alien life". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  9. 1 2 Billings, Lee (20 July 2015). "Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Nets Historic Cash Infusion". Scientific American . Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  10. 1 2 3 Merali, Zeeya (20 July 2015). "Search for extraterrestrial intelligence gets a $100-million boost. Russian billionaire Yuri Milner announces most comprehensive hunt for alien life". Nature. 523 (7561). Nature News: 392–3. Bibcode:2015Natur.523..392M. doi: 10.1038/nature.2015.18016 . PMID   26201576.
  11. ↑ Vella, Matt (21 July 2015). "Read the Inspiring 'Questions of Existence' Letter from the World's Greatest Thinkers". Time . Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 Rundle, Michael (20 July 2015). "$100m Breakthrough Listen is 'largest ever' search for alien civilisations". Wired . Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  13. ↑ "Breakthrough Initiatives". breakthroughinitiatives.org. Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  14. ↑ Sample, Ian (20 July 2015). "Anybody out there? $100m radio wave project to scan far regions for alien life". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 20 July 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  15. ↑ "Breakthrough Initiatives". www.breakthroughinitiatives.org. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  16. 1 2 Stone, Maddie (12 April 2016). "Stephen Hawking and a Russian Billionaire Want to Build an Interstellar Starship". Gizmodo . Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  17. ↑ Staff (12 April 2016). "Breakthrough Initiatives - Breakthrough Starshot". Breakthrough Initiatives. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  18. ↑ Overbye, Dennis (12 April 2016). "Reaching for the Stars, Across 4.37 Light-Years; A Visionary Project Aims for Alpha Centauri, a Star 4.37 Light-Years Away". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 15 April 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  19. ↑ "Breakthrough Starshot". Breakthrough Initiatives. 12 April 2016. Archived from the original on 22 May 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  20. ↑ Chang, Kenneth (24 August 2016). "One Star Over, a Planet That Might Be Another Earth". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 1 January 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  21. ↑ "Starshot - Target". Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  22. 1 2 Gilster, Paul (12 April 2016). "Breakthrough Starshot: Mission to Alpha Centauri". Centauri Dreams. Archived from the original on 15 April 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  23. 1 2 "Starshot - Concept". Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  24. ↑ McBride, Sarah (20 July 2015). "Billionaire Milner pledges $100 mln to find intelligent life in space". Reuters. Archived from the original on 11 October 2015.
  25. ↑ "Breakthrough Initiatives". Archived from the original on 15 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  26. ↑ Lubin, Philip (April 2015). "A Roadmap to Interstellar Flight" (PDF). Journal of the British Interplanetary Society . 69 (published February 2016): 40–72. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  27. ↑ Hall, Loura (7 May 2015). "DEEP IN Directed Energy Propulsion for Interstellar Exploration". NASA News. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2016. NASA is pleased to hear that Professor Lubin has received external funding to continue the work started in his NIAC study.
  28. ↑ Osborne, Hannah (12 April 2016). "Alpha Centauri mission: Stephen Hawking and Yuri Milner plan to send tiny spacecrafts [sic] to the stars". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  29. ↑ Staff (26 July 2017). "In Quest To Reach Alpha Centauri, BreakThrough Starshot Launches World's Smallest Spacecraft - First Prototype 'Sprites' – Precursors to Eventual 'StarChip' Probes – Achieve Low Earth Orbit". BreakThroughInitiatives.org. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  30. ↑ "Breakthrough Initiatives". breakthroughinitiatives.org. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  31. ↑ Mandelbaum, Ryan F. (8 November 2018). "Report: NASA and Yuri Milner Working Together on Life-Hunting Mission to Enceladus". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on 18 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  32. ↑ Wall, Mike (9 November 2018). "Billionaire Yuri Milner's Breakthrough Initiatives Eyes Private Mission to Seek Alien Life". Space.com. Archived from the original on 18 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019. Breakthrough Initiatives was investigating the feasibility of launching a probe that would look for signs of life in the plume of water vapor and other material wafting from Enceladus' south polar region.
  33. ↑ Deatrick, Elizabeth (21 June 2016). "Saturn moon Enceladus' ice shell likely thinner than expected". GeoSpace. Archived from the original on 18 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  34. ↑ Čadek, Ondřej; Tobie, Gabriel; Van Hoolst, Tim; et al. (2016). "Enceladus's internal ocean and ice shell constrained from Cassini gravity, shape, and libration data". Geophysical Research Letters . 43 (11): 5653–5660. Bibcode:2016GeoRL..43.5653C. doi: 10.1002/2016GL068634 . ISSN   1944-8007.
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