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Interstellar probes will be eroded


Waspie_Dwarf

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Interstellar probes will be eroded on the way to Alpha Centauri

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When you’re travelling at one-fifth the speed of light, even a small collision can hurt. Now we know exactly how much. A team working on a project to send tiny spacecraft to the stars have calculated the damage that hitting just a speck of dust could do.

Breakthrough Starshot is an ambitious plan to launch probes weighing little more than a few grams at interstellar speeds using lasers. The goal is to reach the Alpha Centauri star system in just 20 years, and hopefully send back pictures of any planets that might be lurking there. Unconfirmed reports from German newspaper Der Spiegel suggest the discovery of one such world around the star Proxima Centauri is due to be announced later this month.

arrow3.gif  Read more: New Scientist

 

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  • Waspie_Dwarf

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  • Zalmoxis

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They probably already thought of it but to avoid damaging sensitive instruments they would launch the satellite inside a cartridge and the cartridge would act as a shield. The cartridge would then launch the satellite upon arrival to the star system and as it arrives the satellite would then begin it's mission. This of course would mean no interstellar data but I doubt much of interest would be missed on the way there.

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29 minutes ago, Zalmoxis said:

This of course would mean no interstellar data but I doubt much of interest would be missed on the way there.

It would also mean no communications with the spacecraft. No ability for the spacecraft to work out where it is. No ability for the spacecraft to manoeuvre. All of which means a zero chance of mission success.

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You would outfit the cartridge with the necessary launch and navigation equipment to get the mission on course. The equipment would remain on hand until it is destroyed during interstellar travel. There should be plenty of time to make the necessary flight path alterations before the danger of natural erosion disables external equipment.

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