NASA has aims to send a space shuttle to adjacent star system Alpha Centauri by the asteroid 2069 , on the 100th anniversary of the moon landing . The star system , one trillion miles away from Earth , could be searched for signs of life , inspired by the discovery of an Earth - type planet orbiting the star Proxima Centauri last year . " Proxima " has mild enough temperatures to contain liquid mineral water , which could indicate the ability to sustain life . Any travel would have to be completed at a minimum speed of 30 cubic metres per second , or 10 percent of the speed of light .
NASA has aims to send a space shuttle to adjacent star system Alpha Centauri by the year 2069, on the 100th anniversary of the moon landing. The star system, 24.9 trillion miles away from Earth, will be searched for signs of life, inspired by the discovery of an Earth-type planet orbiting the star Proxima Centauri last year. "Proxima" has mild enough temperatures to sustain liquid surface water, which could indicate the ability to sustain life. Any travel would have to be completed at a minimum speed of 30 million metres per second, or 10% of the speed of light.