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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Move to new planet, says Hawking | Move to new planet, says Hawking |
| (about 22 hours later) | |
| The human race must move to a planet beyond our Solar System to protect the future of the species, physicist Professor Stephen Hawking has warned. | The human race must move to a planet beyond our Solar System to protect the future of the species, physicist Professor Stephen Hawking has warned. |
| He told the BBC that life could be wiped out by a nuclear disaster or an asteroid hitting the planet. | He told the BBC that life could be wiped out by a nuclear disaster or an asteroid hitting the planet. |
| But the Cambridge academic added: "Once we spread out into space and establish colonies, our future should be safe." | But the Cambridge academic added: "Once we spread out into space and establish colonies, our future should be safe." |
| Prof Hawking, 64, was speaking before receiving the UK's top science award, the Royal Society's Copley Medal. | Prof Hawking, 64, was speaking before receiving the UK's top science award, the Royal Society's Copley Medal. |
| My next goal is to go into space; maybe Richard Branson will help me Professor Stephen Hawking He said there were no similar planets to Earth in our Solar System so humans would "have to go to another star". | My next goal is to go into space; maybe Richard Branson will help me Professor Stephen Hawking He said there were no similar planets to Earth in our Solar System so humans would "have to go to another star". |
| Professor Hawking said that current chemical and nuclear rockets were not adequate for taking colonists into space as they would mean a journey of 50,000 years. | Professor Hawking said that current chemical and nuclear rockets were not adequate for taking colonists into space as they would mean a journey of 50,000 years. |
| He also discounted using warp drive to travel at the speed of light for taking people to a new outpost. | |
| Instead, he favoured "matter/anti-matter annihilation" as a means of propulsion. | Instead, he favoured "matter/anti-matter annihilation" as a means of propulsion. |
| A collision with fragments from space could end life on earth | A collision with fragments from space could end life on earth |
| He explained: "When matter and anti-matter meet up, they disappear in a burst of radiation. If this was beamed out of the back of a spaceship, it could drive it forward." | He explained: "When matter and anti-matter meet up, they disappear in a burst of radiation. If this was beamed out of the back of a spaceship, it could drive it forward." |
| Travelling at just below the speed of light, it would mean a journey of about six years to reach a new star. | Travelling at just below the speed of light, it would mean a journey of about six years to reach a new star. |
| "It would take a lot of energy to accelerate to near the speed of light," he told BBC Radio 4's Today. | "It would take a lot of energy to accelerate to near the speed of light," he told BBC Radio 4's Today. |
| Professor Hawking became famous with the publication of his book A Brief History of Time in the late 1980s. | Professor Hawking became famous with the publication of his book A Brief History of Time in the late 1980s. |
| 'Goal is space' | 'Goal is space' |
| The physicist was not given many years to live when he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in the 1960s, aged 22. | The physicist was not given many years to live when he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in the 1960s, aged 22. |
| He said since then he had "learned not to look too far ahead, but to concentrate on the present". | He said since then he had "learned not to look too far ahead, but to concentrate on the present". |
| "I am not afraid of death but in no hurry to die," he said. | "I am not afraid of death but in no hurry to die," he said. |
| "My next goal is to go into space; maybe Richard Branson will help me." | "My next goal is to go into space; maybe Richard Branson will help me." |
| Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group has contracted a firm to design and build a passenger spaceship. | Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group has contracted a firm to design and build a passenger spaceship. |
| Offshoot Virgin Galactic will own and operate at least five spaceships and two mother ships, and will charge £100,000 ($190,000) to carry passengers to an altitude of about 140km on a sub-orbital space flight. | Offshoot Virgin Galactic will own and operate at least five spaceships and two mother ships, and will charge £100,000 ($190,000) to carry passengers to an altitude of about 140km on a sub-orbital space flight. |