 |
| The foundation aims to foster the research necessary to build a starship |
Related
Stories
The
Pentagon's premiere research agency has chosen a former astronaut to lead a
foundation that is designed to take humanity to the stars.
 |
Former astronaut Mae Jemison
|
Mae
Jemison, the first African-American woman to go into space, was notified last
week that she had won, according to a copy of a Darpa letter obtained by the
BBC.
Since
leaving Nasa, Jemison has been involved in science education programmes, and is
known as a space travel enthusiast and long-time Star Trek fan.
Her
organisation, the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence, is partnered on
the Darpa project with Icarus Interstellar, a non-profit organisation that is
dedicated to interstellar travel, and the Foundation for Enterprise
Development.
Since it
was first announced last year, the 100-Year Starship project has been met with
trepidation by some, and excitement by many.
With Nasa
scaling back its manned space programmes, the idea of a manned trip to the
stars, which is well beyond any current technology, may sound audacious.
But the
goal is not to have the government fund the actual building of spacecraft destined
for the stars, but rather to create a foundation that can last 100 years in
order to help foster the research needed for interstellar travel.
The money
for the winning team, $500,000, is small, but is designed to help jumpstart the
effort. According to a copy of the notification letter, Jemison's proposal was
titled: "An Inclusive Audacious Journey Transforms Life Here on Earth
& Beyond".
A spokesman
for Darpa declined to comment on the award, which has not been publicly
announced.
No comments:
Post a Comment