Start Trek becomes reality!

[Agamer]

[quote]

All right.

[DanielF]

Well, I guess we'll find out if solar sailing works or not soon.  A private organization is planning to launch a solar sail in early 2004.  They were supposed to launch it last month, but they delayed it.  :P  I've been looking forward to seeing how it goes for about a year now.

Anything out beyond about Jupiter will never get enough OOMPH! to go anywhere in any reasonable length of time.

Once a solar sail ship goes beyond Jupiter, lasers based somewhere in the inner solar system could give the sail some "oomph", since the light from a laser doesn't diffuse into space as quickly as sunlight.

[Travis]

Daniels right.  Lasers could be used, but the power experditure alone would make this a monumental task, not to mention trying to hit something millions of miles away at the correct angle!

[KnightStryker]

ok so you mount the laser on the back of the ship, aim it at the sail, and you got all the oomph you need.

Seriously, I have no idea what this whole thread is about now, my head hurts and i think ill go lie down now.

[RIC_BARKER]

ok so you mount the laser on the back of the ship, aim it at the sail, and you got all the oomph you need.

Seriously, I have no idea what this whole thread is about now, my head hurts and i think ill go lie down now.

Correct me if I'm wrong but...

Every action has an equal and opposite reacation....the sail and laser will go nowhere.

Ric B.

[DanielF]

Yeah, that's why the laser would have to be aimed from somewhere else.

...not to mention trying to hit something millions of miles away at the correct angle!

You could do it the easy way and rotate the sails so it would hit correctly.  ;)

For anyone who's totally lost in all this solar sail stuff (hey, what happened to Star Trek  ??? lol) Click Here for an explanation (and a cool picture  8))

[Smoke2much]

If your lasar is exerting so much force that it can propel the sail bearing ship through space why not turn it round and use it like a jet?  Pointing it at a sail seems a little pointless.

It would stop other ships tailgating you.

Will

[JBaymore]

Ender Baron,

I think you are refering to the inverse square law about light.  The intensity varies inversely with the square of the distance.

best,

................john