Fictional travel to Alpha Centauri by using laser boosted solar sail

NASA's solar sail
(Picture I)

Kimmo Huosionmaa

In this text, I would think about fictional space trip to Alpha Centauri by using solar sails, what are boosted with laser or microwave beams. The use of lasers with solar sails would give very much improvements to that system. The problems with laser-systems are that the material of the targeted spacecraft would be heated in extreme temperature, but when we are thinking about the use of lasers as the improve the thrust of that very large sail, we must think this problem practically.


Big size of solar sails would allow that the heat of the laser rays would circulate in the larger area, and that would help to decrease the heat, what powerful lasers would send to the target.  Those lasers, what would be used in that kind of program, might be kilometers long, and they might be stationed near the Earth. Making those kilometers long free-electron lasers or powerful masers is a quite simple thing.


There must send many small satellites to space, and then those satellites must be connected together. In this case, those satellites would be equipped with the particle accelerator, what goes thru each satellite and then those satellites would be made very powerful ray, that can be targeted to the solar sail. In this case, the solar sail would be covered with ice, and that ice is no need to be made by water. Then the laser-ray would steam that ice, and that would improve the speed and thrust of the solar sail. This is the good thing to pump the energy for the spacecraft, that would send to Alpha Centauri in some day in future.  The use of lasers or masers would allow using the power source of the spacecraft with smaller power, and that would increase the system lifetime.


When we are thinking about the structure of that solar sail, we might think, that there would be very many small units in this probe, and it would look like some jewels are connected with the same spiders net and the miniaturization and multiplication of that system would improve the solar sails ability to survive that mission. And when this solar sai comes near Alpha Centauri, it would turn sideways to the star, and then increase the layer, what would face the solar wind of that star.  This would help it to transfer it to the orbital trajectory of that star.


And then it could send thousands of pea-sized miniature probes to the planets of that star. That would seem like science fiction, but using miniaturized probes that kind of mission would be done, and the destruction of one particle, would not destroy all probes, and this hypothetical mission would be accomplished surer than with one single probe.  There is only one problem with that system, those massive lasers can be mentioned as the military technology. And that would cause the resistance against this kind of projects.

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiHDCOYgYsk

https://www.space.com/10678-nasa-solar-sail-photo-contest.html

Picture I

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/475897main_080421-earthsail_3023x2006.jpg

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