RE: Reaching for the stars, finally - will the young ones among us get pics of Alpha C.?
April 13, 2016 at 6:01 am
(April 13, 2016 at 4:59 am)Alex K Wrote: This is pretty cool: shooting small probes across space by pushing them with lasers positioned near earth will allow to reach velocities unconstrained by the rocket equation. Near light speed becomes thinkable.
Yes, this was on the BBC news last night plus an interview with Hawking. Presumably the receiver would need to redirect the force of the laser otherwise it would get pushed all over the place as the earths position in space moves. I wonder if they have any estimates of the chances of a tiny probe not hitting anything as it escapes the solar system.
The engineering of this would be one of the greatest achievements in our history.
