I was born 11 years after the Moon landing. Theoretically, if I lived to be 120, I might see the data from this Proxima swarm fly-by. (Assuming a 2076 launch, twenty years travel time at 0.2c, and four years for the information return trip.)

I know it’s extremely unlikely this program ever gets deployed. It’s also very unlikely that I could last that long, barring some miracle medical breakthrough. It’s still an inspiring thought that humankind might get from its moon to the nearest star almost in one lifetime.

Obviously there’s nothing on Proxima, just like there’s nothing on the Moon. But that’s not the point. Everything of value is here on Earth, in the people we share it with. But we need joint ambitions and dreams. They don’t have to make sense to be worth dreaming about. It’s the opposite: the sense that quarterly reports and performance reviews are made of is the enemy of dreams.