Yuri Milner announces launch of $100 million research & engineering program

Billionaire venture capitalist and entrepreneur Yuri Milner along with cosmologist Stephen Hawking announced the launch of $100 million research and engineering program Breakthrough Starshot on Tuesday. The announcement coincided with the very day astronaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to enter outer space 55 years ago.

Milner’s mother, Betti, was present at the event in New York where he made the announcement, and the billionaire commented, "Like so many others, I was inspired by his great leap and I, still, am inspired." It's known that Milner is named after Gagarin, but here are other interesting facts about the astronaut: Gagarin apprenticed in a steel plant near Moscow and graduated with honours in mould-making and foundry work. Secondly, Gagarin was just 5 ft 2 in, which was perfect, considering the Vostok cockpit was small. Milner, meanwhile, has been described by Forbes as being "diminutive in height".