Private research institutions are launching a crowdfunding campaign to help build a new space telescope that could be capable of searching for -- and photographing -- planets in the Alpha Centauri star system.
The Alpha Centauri, which holds stars most similar to our Sun, is our best bet for the mission, which is now called "Project Blue." Jon Morse, the former director of NASA's astrophysics division and the current chief executive of the BoldlyGo Institute, said that scientists are looking to "take another pale blue-dot image" that is similar to what the Voyager 1 spacecraft took of the Earth in 1990.
According to The Washington Post, Morse and his partner, Brett Marty, the executive director of nonprofit organization Mission Centaur, are aiming to raise $1 million via Kickstarter -- which is enough money for seed funding of the project. However, the rest of the budget will likely come from foundations and other wealthy donors.
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