The nearest exoplanet, Proxima Centauri b, is a tantalizing target. The best way to reach it might be with a swarm of tiny lightsail probes.
Artist’s impression of the surface of the planet Proxima b orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri. The double star Alpha Centauri AB is visible to the upper right of Proxima itself. Credit: ESO
That’s why Space Initiatives Inc. proposes such tiny spacecraft. With their small masses, direct lasers can propel them to their destination. That means they must send a swarm of hundreds or even one thousand probes to get valuable scientific results. Tiny probes like these can only do flybys. They’re too tiny and low-mass for anything else. When designing a mission like this, the first consideration is whether the probes will operate as a dispersed or coherent swarm. In a dispersed swarm, the probes reach their destination sequentially. In a coherent swarm, the probes are together when they do their flyby. Both architectures have their merits.
This image from the presentation shows how the probe swarm would arrive at Proxima b. Image Credit: Eubanks et al. 2024. “It is now possible to predict lensing events for nearby stars; BTS probe observations of dozens or hundreds of predicted microlensing events by nearby stars will offer both a means of observing these systems and a novel means of interstellar navigation,” the authors explain.
“At this point, it would be worth turning some probes to face forward and begin imaging the Proxima system to search for undiscovered planets, moons and asteroids in the system, and to begin a Proxima b approach video,” the researchers explain. As humanity’s first mission to Proxima Centauri b, the swarm would face some hurdles and uncertainties. But in a coherent swarm architecture, the mission could also be almost too successful. “A BTS mission, especially with a coherent swarm, may collect more data than can be returned to Earth,” the authors write. If the data returned has to be selected autonomously by the swarm itself, that could be more demanding than deciding what data to collect in the first place.
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