Reynard said:
First, I read about the Alpha Centauri system. No known gas giants and the known planets are very hot meaning no water. There's no hydrogen fuel. With that in mind:
The Traveller Map lists a World called Prometheus, the hex it is in indicates that there is at least 1 gas giant. NASA hasn't detected any gas giants orbiting close, so it must be orbiting way out there, and since it is a binary star system, who's stars get as close as 10 AU and go out as far as 40, then the closest gas giant must be at least 3 times the maximum separation of both stars, so we are talking about 120 AU or more. Prometheus is too close in to have ice bearing bodies in space other than itself, but their might be comets and asteroids, NASA would probably have to bring its own return fuel in the early missions.
100 ton proto-type
I thought about streamlined configuration and heat shielding necessary for reaction drives but the planets make landing moot so dispersed configuration to save money. Jump 2 engines plus fuel for two jumps. Reaction drive with 34 tons fuel good for 28 days at maximum thrust 2. Fission power plant with one year fuel. Computer Model/1bis with Maneuver/0, Jump Control/2 and Library. Standard electronics. One double occupancy stateroom for a crew of two as this is a prototype mostly testing the jump drive.
It doesn't do much except become the most historical event in modern human history.
One could plant a colony starting with a small number of people much as Mars One planned to do on Mars. The Cost to get to 100 diameters is about the same as getting to the Moon. A simple Orion Capsule with Jump Drive and fuel tanks attached to equal 100 tons would do.
There could be an organization called "Prometheus One" modeled after Mars One where colonists go on a one way mission. A one way mission to Prometheus is certainly feasible, and it can be done with heat shields, and parachutes, perhaps Orion Capsules could be used. Prior to this NASA could send some probes down to the surface to determine if Humans could survive off of the biosphere. The Probe would consist of two parts, an orbiter and a lander. The lander would transmit its findings to the Orbiter, and then the Orbiter would Jump back to Earth brining the probe's findings back with it. NASA could then refuel the Orbiter with 40 tons of liquid hydrogen and send it back to gather more data from the lander, probably easier just to send another orbiter.
After the data has been gathered an organization similar to Mars One could finance a One-Way Mission using Dragon Boosters from Space X and doing a reality program. Because of the nature of Jump Drives, this reality program wouldn't be live of course. The cost of establishing a colony on Prometheus would be cheaper than a similar one on Mars as the atmosphere of Prometheus is breathable but dense. Colonists might choose to settle high in the mountains, Prometheus' equivalent to Mount Everest, as the atmosphere at that altitude would be Standard. The Colonists would have to learn to grow their food on mountain tops, and perhaps use helicopters to go from mountain to mountain top and grow food on other mountain tops as well. Climbing up and down these mountain sides won't be easy.