Editing Interstellar travel (section)

=== Interstellar missions not for human benefit ===

Explorative high-speed missions to [[Alpha Centauri]], as planned for by the [[Breakthrough Starshot|Breakthrough Starshot initiative]], are projected to be realizable within the 21st century.<ref>{{Cite journal|arxiv=1710.10732|last1=Kulkarni|first1=Neeraj|title=Relativistic Spacecraft Propelled by Directed Energy|journal=The Astronomical Journal|volume=155|issue=4|pages=155|last2=Lubin|first2=Philip|last3=Zhang|first3=Qicheng|year=2017|doi=10.3847/1538-3881/aaafd2|bibcode=2018AJ....155..155K|s2cid=62839612 |doi-access=free }}</ref> It is alternatively possible to plan for uncrewed slow-cruising missions taking millennia to arrive. These probes would not be for human benefit in the sense that one can not foresee whether there would be anybody around on Earth interested in then back-transmitted science data. An example would be the Genesis mission,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gros |first1=Claudius |title=Developing ecospheres on transiently habitable planets: the genesis project |journal=Astrophysics and Space Science |date=5 September 2016 |volume=361 |issue=10 |pages=324 |doi=10.1007/s10509-016-2911-0|arxiv=1608.06087 |bibcode=2016Ap&SS.361..324G |s2cid=6106567 }}</ref> which aims to bring unicellular life, in the spirit of [[directed panspermia]], to habitable but otherwise barren planets.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Andersen |first=Ross |date=August 25, 2016 |title=How to Jumpstart Life Elsewhere in Our Galaxy |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/08/genesis-missions/497258/ |work=[[The Atlantic]] |access-date=29 January 2018 |archive-date=18 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220618182442/https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/08/genesis-missions/497258/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Comparatively slow cruising Genesis probes, with a typical speed of <math>c/300</math>, corresponding to about <math>1000\,\mbox{km/s}</math>, can be decelerated using a [[magnetic sail]]. Uncrewed missions not for human benefit would hence be feasible.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Romero |first=James |date=13 November 2017 |title=Should we seed life through the cosmos using laser-driven ships? |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2153165-should-we-seed-life-through-the-cosmos-using-laser-driven-ships/ |work=[[New Scientist]] |access-date=16 November 2017 |archive-date=14 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114211810/https://www.newscientist.com/article/2153165-should-we-seed-life-through-the-cosmos-using-laser-driven-ships/ |url-status=live }}</ref>