With his trademark sense of humor physicist
Stephen Hawking announced plans to search
for alien life...
They hope to deploy thousands of tiny light-propelled
spacecraft in to our nearest neighbouring
star system, called Alpha Centauri, which
is 25 trillion miles away.
Scientists hope the vehicles, which are called
nanocraft, will be able to travel at 20 percent
of the speed of light, which is more than
a thousand times fast than current spacecraft.
They'll be around the size of a postage stamp
with a small sail
Despite their size they'd be able to carry
cameras and communications equipment, meaning
they could send back pictures which will help
determine if the star system contains an earth
like planent capable of sustaining life.
But before they do that they crafts would
have to go through a difficult journey - first
surviving a launch from a larger spacecraft,.
then 20 years of travel through interstellar
space - where there are plenty of obstacles,
like dust collision, to dodge.
It would then take 4 years for the pictures
to transmit back to earth.
The project is called Breakthrough Starshot
and could take years to develop - and there's
every chance it might not work.
The 100 million dollar initiative is being
financed by billionaire internet investor
Yuri Milner.
Last year he and Hawking announced a 10 year
long project called Breakthrough listen. This
involves monitoring radio signals for signs
of intelligent life across 
the universe.
