London: A dramatic plan to put humans on another star within 100 years received the backing of former President Bill Clinton on Thursday.
The ‘100 year Starship project’, which was set up with US military seed funding, plans to develop huge “starships” to send humans to other stars.
Project Daedelous is the first serious attempt to design a ship capable of travelling to the nearest stars.
Weighing 50,000 tonnes, powered by nuclear fusion, travelling at 12 percent of the speed of light, the journey time would be close to 50 years.
The project has already received large amounts of funding, and the former President has even stepped in to serve as the symposium’s Honorary Chair.
“This important effort helps advance the knowledge and technologies required to explore space, all while generating the necessary tools that enhance our quality of life on earth,” the Daily Mail quoted Clinton as saying in a statement.
The astronaut who became the first black woman in space in 1992 has been chosen to skipper the “100 Year Starship” project.
Mae Jemison will be leading the project to explore what it would take for a multigenerational mission beyond the solar system.
Conceived by the British Interplanetary society, Project Daedelous was a thirteen member volunteer engineering design study conducted between 1973 and 1978, to demonstrate that Interstellar travel is feasible in theory.
ANI
