Questions tagged [breakthrough-starshot]
The breakthrough-starshot tag has no usage guidance.
11
questions
6
votes
1
answer
128
views
Breakthrough initiatives : Gram size camera progress
Looking at this site, are there any interesting activities going on miniaturizing cameras? Is the research stalling? The papers here are at least 8 years old. Besides Avi Loeb any other prominent ...
3
votes
1
answer
241
views
Small probes to Alpha Centauri powered by light sails with a journey time of 20 years
This news item states that scientists have potentially devised a way to send a number of small probes to Alpha Centauri at quarter the speed of light. The journey would take 20 years and each small ...
2
votes
0
answers
39
views
Detecting light leakage from starshot-like probe
Would we be able to detect the light "leaking" around a light sail, from a startshot like probe, which is launched from a nearby star system towards Earth?
6
votes
0
answers
81
views
Could Breakthrough Starshot be used to deflect asteroids and comets?
Would Breakthrough Starshot be able to deflect an asteroid or comet? I have seen thoughts about using the lasers that would launch Breakthrough Starshot to deflect asteroids or comets: https://www....
7
votes
1
answer
311
views
How could we hear back from Breakthrough Starshot? [duplicate]
The Breakthrough Starshot concept is to send a swarm of tiny spacecraft on a flyby mission to Proxima Centauri b. These are tiny spacecraft (on the scale of centimeters). Given how miniscule the ...
1
vote
1
answer
105
views
Effective range of a laser propelled solar sail
The ongoing Breakthrough Starshot program proposes the use of high powered lasers on Earth to be aimed at a solar sail with the intention of propelling it to the star Alpha Centauri.
To be more ...
6
votes
1
answer
430
views
Project Starshot acceleration
A recent question about Project Starshot's communication asks about one of the seemingly insurmountable problems with this project.
There is however another problem that has bugged me ever since I ...
3
votes
0
answers
226
views
Why would "Breakthrough Starshot" need photon thrusters?
Found here (italics added, bold in source):
Nanocrafts are gram-scale robotic spacecrafts comprising two main parts:
StarChip: Moore’s law has allowed a dramatic decrease in the size of ...
20
votes
4
answers
880
views
How are the tiny spacecraft proposed by Project Starshot supposed to communicate with Earth?
Between power limitations and aperture-limited diffraction I just can't see how it's possible.
5
votes
0
answers
775
views
Breakthrough Starshot's 100 Gigawatt laser array - what's the current thinking how this might work?
In the article Breakthrough Starshot tricks out massive telescope for planet hunting there is casual mention of a "phased array of lasers in the 100GW range" that will propel a gram scale spacecraft ...
9
votes
4
answers
495
views
How will Yuri Milner and Stephen Hawking's nanobots decelerate and transmit data upon arrival at Alpha Centauri?
Does anyone know what exactly is their plan, once they get there? How is that nano-thing going to slow down / take images / send data back to us? I couldn't find any information on this.