3 ms·
No. The craft is obviously disposable, on a one-way trip. I wonder if it will even slow down, is there any braking manoeuvre possible, or will it shoot through
by SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago
No. The craft is obviously disposable, on a one-way trip.
I wonder if it will even slow down, is there any braking manoeuvre possible, or will it shoot through the target solar system at 0.2c ?
What would be nice, would be if a signal - data, information about the target solar system could be sent back during the fly-by. But I see no sign of that.
I've seen pictures of a barren desert landscape today, taken recently on Mars. It's marvellous, and I don't need the rover to come back for that.
But without even information coming back, what's the point?
- nuccy 5y agoFrom the original starshot project we know that information is exactly the aim. Though at the moment we are not yet on the level of technology to compactify enough the transmition equipment. There is no manuever which can help with 0.2c velocity drop. Individual gravitational assist manuever usian a planet of the solar system can add/remove hundreds of meters/second (depends on the planet mass and how close to its center we can pass). Plus the vehicle flyies-by the object used for such assist. Since Alpha Centauri is literally the closest star system, there is nothing on the way to be used for such an assist (preferably a star).