Breakthrough Watch has announced that it will fund the second phase of the TOLIMAN mission, which is now underway. The space telescope program will scan Alpha Centauri for planets that are capable of supporting life. Israeli billionaire Yuri Milner is the man behind Watch and the other Breakthrough Initiatives. He is a co-founder of the Breakthrough Foundation, which funds the Initiatives.
Yuri Milner launched the Breakthrough Foundation after becoming a Giving Pledge signatory. Joining the Giving Pledge meant he committed much of his wealth to scientific and other philanthropic projects. His Breakthrough Foundation supports the Breakthrough Initiatives, the Breakthrough Prize, and other science-focused projects. On top of this, he is the author of the short book Eureka Manifesto.
TOLIMAN and the Breakthrough Initiatives: Monitoring Our Astronomical Neighborhood
TOLIMAN stands for the Telescope for Orbit Locus Interferometric Monitoring of our Astronomical Neighborhood. TOLIMAN is also the ancient Arabic name of one of Alpha Centauri’s stars.
The TOLIMAN mission involves building and launching a specialized telescope into space. The telescope’s unique design should help astronomers detect planets orbiting nearby stars. These planets beyond our solar system are sometimes classified as “exoplanets.”
Professor Peter Tuthill is the TOLIMAN project leader. He explains that any new exoplanets will undergo further examination for signs of life.
Yuri Milner’s Breakthrough Watch works to characterize exoplanets around Alpha Centauri. The Breakthrough Initiative also targets the areas around other stars within 20 light-years of Earth.
The Breakthrough Watch Chief Engineer Pete Klupar emphasizes the importance of these nearby planets. They could be the ideal targets for humanity when we “take our first steps into interstellar space.”
Another Breakthrough Initiative, Breakthrough Starshot, has its sights set on Alpha Centauri. Yuri Milner founded Starshot in 2016 with Stephen Hawking and Mark Zuckerberg. The program is developing a proof of concept for ultra-fast, light-driven “nanocrafts.” These miniature space probes could reach Alpha Centauri in around 20 years.
Astronomers expect our closest few dozen stars to be hiding a “handful of rocky planets like Earth.” If these exoplanets are orbiting their stars at the right distance for “liquid surface water to be possible,” we could find alien life.
Paving The Way for Low-Cost Astronomy Missions
Several teams are collaborating on the TOLIMAN project, including:
- Scientists from the University of Sydney.
- The Breakthrough Initiatives team in California.
- NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.
- Saber Astronautics in Australia.
In phase two of the mission, the aerospace manufacturer EnduroSat will join the project. The manufacturer will provide the delivery system for the TOLIMAN launch and create a custom minisatellite.
The MicroSat model can download payload data at a speed of over 125 megabits per second. This critical feature will enable the TOLIMAN team to receive frequent, quality data transfers.
Learn more about Breakthrough Watch and the TOLIMAN mission.
About Yuri Milner
Before becoming a technology investor, Yuri Milner was a theoretical physicist. Science is still one of his great passions, and he is now a prolific science philanthropist. He is also the author of Eureka Manifesto: The Mission for Our Civilization.
Eureka Manifesto argues that humanity should embrace a mission to explore and understand our Universe. The short book touches on space exploration, artificial intelligence, and the Universal Story of how complexity and life arose in the universe. Yuri Milner also discusses humanity’s place in the universe in Eureka Manifesto.
In 2012, Yuri Milner and his wife Julia became signatories of the Giving Pledge. The Milners’ Giving Pledge focuses on investing in leading minds and humanity’s shared future.
To follow through on their Giving Pledge, the couple has created and funded several philanthropic projects. These projects include:
- The Breakthrough Initiatives.
- The Breakthrough Junior Challenge.
- The Breakthrough Prize.
The Breakthrough Prize is also known as the “Oscars of Science.” Each year, prizes of $3 million go to deserving scientists and mathematicians. The Breakthrough Prize is the largest scientific award in the world.
