By Shane Lasley
Metal Tech News
New design for Alpha Centauri light sail
Patchwork of advanced materials, powerful lasers, and science Metal Tech News – February 23, 2022
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Last updated 9/3/2022 at 11:34am
Masumi Shibata, courtesy of Breakthrough Initiatives
An artist's conception of the Starshot Lightsail Spacecraft being pushed by a powerful array of Earth-based lasers during the initial acceleration of a 20-year mission to Alpha Centauri.
Liquid fuel rockets are adequate for jetting humans to the most popular destinations across our solar system in a reasonable amount of time – about three days to the Moon and six months to Mars. We, however, need a way of traveling near the speed of light to shave enough of the 75,000-year journey to get to Alpha Centauri, our closest solar system neighbor, in a human lifespan.
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