🚀 Chrysalis: A 36-Mile Spacecraft Designed for a 400-Year Journey to Alpha Centauri

Chrysalis could house several generations until it enters Alpha Centauri, where it could shuttle people to the surface of the planet Proxima Centuri b. (Image credit: Giacomo Infelise, Veronica Magli, Guido Sbrogio', Nevenka Martinello and Federica Chiara Serpe​)

Imagine boarding a spacecraft not just for a mission—but for life. A team of engineers has unveiled a bold concept for a multigenerational interstellar vessel named Chrysalis, capable of carrying up to 2,400 people on a one-way voyage to our nearest star system, Alpha Centauri.

🌌 The Mission: Reaching Proxima Centauri b

Chrysalis is designed to travel the staggering 25 trillion miles (40 trillion kilometers) to Alpha Centauri in approximately 400 years. Its ultimate destination? Proxima Centauri b, an Earth-sized exoplanet believed to be potentially habitable. Since the journey spans centuries, the ship would host multiple generations, with many passengers living their entire lives aboard.

🛠️ A Nested Megastructure in Space

The spacecraft’s architecture resembles a Russian nesting doll, with five concentric layers wrapped around a central core:

• Core: Houses shuttles for planetary descent and all communication systems.
• Layer 1: Dedicated to food production—plants, fungi, insects, and livestock in controlled ecosystems.
• Layer 2: Communal spaces like parks, schools, hospitals, and libraries.
• Layer 3: Residential dwellings with advanced air and heat systems.
• Layer 4: Industrial zones for recycling, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing.
• Layer 5: Warehouses for resources and equipment, potentially managed by autonomous robots.

🌱 Life Before Launch

To prepare psychologically, the first generations of inhabitants would live in Antarctica for 70–80 years, adapting to isolation and self-sufficiency. The ship itself could be constructed within 20–25 years, powered by nuclear fusion reactors and sustained by artificial gravity through constant rotation.

🤖 Governance and AI Collaboration

Population control would be essential, with a sustainable target of 1,500 people. Governance would blend human leadership with artificial intelligence, ensuring knowledge transfer, system resilience, and long-term planning across generations.

🏆 Award-Winning Vision

This ambitious concept won first place in the Project Hyperion Design Competition, praised for its system-level coherence and modular habitat innovation. While technologies like commercial fusion reactors are still theoretical, projects like Chrysalis push the boundaries of what’s possible in interstellar travel.

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