But some projects are designing ways to propel payloads to the nearest star system (Alpha Centauri) using beams of electrons. A new proposal uses an electron beam fired from a stable platform near ...

But could humans or spacecraft ever reach Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to our planet? Alpha Centauri is about 4.4 ...

The project hopes to propel roughly 1,000 tiny "StarChip" spacecraft toward Alpha Centauri, the second-closest ... or get to Jupiter in weeks, or get to Pluto in months," Klupar said.

Breakthrough Starshot focuses on a tiny design with gigantic solar "wings" that would allow them to ride a beam of light to Alpha Centauri. However, for practical purposes, a probe that small will ...