XolveJohn
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- Feb 22, 2017
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This is a year old, but I just heard of it. A tiny circuit board probe with a solar sail, powered with a TeraWatt laser on earth!
My physics and propulsion pals insist it will work. Would only need a few hours to get to 1/5 the speed of light, 20 years for the trip.
Such a strong laser might zap satellites, probably Russian or Chinese, and make them mad. Or vaporize the moon.
They are talking about sending flocks of them. They communicate with laser beams, and have a camera.
The main problem is that when far away I don't see how a tiny laser beam from them could be detected on Earth.
Is this project viable, or just another way to waste money, and perhaps alert aliens to our world?
https://www.space.com/32546-interstellar-spaceflight-stephen-hawking-project-starshot.html
https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/Initiative/3
https://phys.org/news/2016-08-breakthrough-starshot-interstellar-probe-highlights.html
My physics and propulsion pals insist it will work. Would only need a few hours to get to 1/5 the speed of light, 20 years for the trip.
Such a strong laser might zap satellites, probably Russian or Chinese, and make them mad. Or vaporize the moon.
They are talking about sending flocks of them. They communicate with laser beams, and have a camera.
The main problem is that when far away I don't see how a tiny laser beam from them could be detected on Earth.
Is this project viable, or just another way to waste money, and perhaps alert aliens to our world?
https://www.space.com/32546-interstellar-spaceflight-stephen-hawking-project-starshot.html
https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/Initiative/3
https://phys.org/news/2016-08-breakthrough-starshot-interstellar-probe-highlights.html