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Getting to Proxima Centauri b will take a lot of new technologies, but there are increasingly exciting reasons to do so. Both public and private efforts have started seriously looking at ways to make it happen, but so far, there has been one significant roadblock to the journey \u2013 propulsion. To solve that problem, Christopher Limbach, now a professor at the University of Michigan, received a grant from NASA\u2019s Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) to work on a novel type of beamed propulsion that utilizes both a particle beam and a laser to overcome that technology\u2019s biggest weakness.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Let\u2019s first look at why conventional propulsion systems wouldn\u2019t work to get a craft to Proxima b. Conventional rockets are out of the question, as their fuel is too heavy and burns up too quickly to get a probe anywhere near the speed it would need to reach Proxima b. Conventional solar sails also fail because once they are far enough away from the Sun, only a minimum push is applied to them.<\/p>\n Other non-conventional solutions could work, such as nuclear propulsion or ion drives. However, they fall victim to the tyranny of the rocket equation \u2013 since they have to carry their fuel, they have to carry more mass to go faster, thereby eliminating much of that benefit.<\/p>\n \n