Proxima Centauri b, which has been discovered relatively recently - 2016. November What makes it special?
Proxima Centauri b is an exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of the closest star to the Sun—the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, which is in a triple star system. It completes its orbit in 11 days. The temperature on this planet is such that there could be liquid water on it. Its mass is 1,3 times larger than Earth's but it is located in the Alpha Centauri star system. This system is 4,2 light years away which makes it reachable. It most likely will be the first destination for interstellar flight.
1. I can already hear people chanting ''why do we even need it, we have everything here on Earth'' but I am saying that we need it. Otherwise, we will rot here on Earth. We need new targets to study otherwise our hunter's instinct will kill us.
2. This is how Alpha Centauri system might look in the future but at the moment we can safely claim the discovery of the planet closest to the smallest star. Proxima b is the first candidate to which the aircraft developed under the ''Breakthrough Starshot'' program could be sent. It is a really small aircraft, it weighs 1 gram, because of it could develop a very high velocity and reach the planet in a transparent period of time. But not so fast. It is predicted that the aircraft won't be built faster than 2040 and it could reach the planet in 2060. Even if it is the foreseeable future, it will not happen tomorrow.
3. The main task of the aircraft is to take a picture of the planet and determine if it is suitable for life. The aircraft should also determine the composition of the atmosphere and the magnetic field of the planet. The latter might be very important because of this red dwarf, which is located near Proxima b, is a flammable star. Although it's not very bright ( the red circle in the picture ), it periodically tends to increase its brightness, but planet's magnetic field protects against such outbreaks.
4. Even though it would take a long time to travel to the stars, the development of the ''Breakthrough Starshot'' aircraft could help to explore the Solar System, as such aircraft could travel within a few days in the Solar System or earlier to Pluto and other remote corners.
What about next day delivery of goods to Mars?