Essay: The Closest Extra-solar Planet to Earth

The Closest Extra-solar Planet to Earth: What's Alpha Centauri Bb Like and How Can We Get There? by Les Johnson

Baen Books. Free Nonfiction 2013 (Kindle Locations 471-473). Baen Books. Kindle Edition. 

Quotes:

We clearly need a new type of space propulsion. Fortunately, nature has provided us with some possibilities and none will require us to rewrite the laws of physics

There is a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri. What do we do about it?

Synopsis:

This is a brief article about the then recently discovered world orbiting Alpha Centauri B. It discusses several possible ways for humans to travel there. Such as a matter/antimatter powered drive, nuclear fusion, solar and laser sails and nuclear pulse drive. It also covers the limits and problems of each, and after concluding that a trip to the planet within a current human lifetime is unlikely pivots to getting better look at the planet by building a new type of space telescope that would use the concept of gravitational lensing to get us images of the planet that is not possible for any space telescope currently in operation.

Thoughts:

One thing I found funny in the article, which is the reason why it's the first quote from it, is the writer's concern about not re-writing the laws of physics. I always find that kind of thing amusing because the history of science is a history of re-writing the laws of physics, chemistry or any other branch of science you care to name. I've never read anything by Les Johnson before this, but I do intend to read more by him. He's a good writer who writes with great clarity. Outside of being a writer he also works for NASA. One option that he left out of the article was a magsail, short for magnetic sail. I think they provide a viable option for travel to the nearer stars, and in a shorter timeframe than the other options he included. Though there would still have to be many years, perhaps of decades, of development done before such a craft could launch.