Hello neighbour

摘要

Space just got a new frontier. The discovery of a rocky planet orbiting our nearest star makes it hard to resist imagining boldly going there (see page 8). But while Captain Kirk and co could cover the 4.25 light years to Proxima b in hours, all we can do is strain our biggest telescopes to glean a few facts about our new neighbour. That is the down-to-earth reality. But discussions have inevitably turned to sending a probe. And why not? The planet is just about reachable; an existing private venture claims it can get tiny probes to Proxima b's star system in just 20 years.