https://github.com/steviecurran/solar-sail
Calculate interstellar travel time for a solar sail
https://github.com/steviecurran/solar-sail
aliens exploration extraterrestrial mumbojumbo relativity solar-sail space-science space-travel teaching technology
Last synced: 3 months ago
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Calculate interstellar travel time for a solar sail
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/steviecurran/solar-sail
- Owner: steviecurran
- Created: 2023-03-23T23:37:29.000Z (about 2 years ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2023-05-05T23:41:47.000Z (about 2 years ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-01-14T08:27:41.541Z (4 months ago)
- Topics: aliens, exploration, extraterrestrial, mumbojumbo, relativity, solar-sail, space-science, space-travel, teaching, technology
- Language: Python
- Homepage:
- Size: 75.2 KB
- Stars: 0
- Watchers: 1
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
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Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
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README
# solar-sail
Calculate interstellar travel time for a solar sail
Simplifed python version of the C code used for "`Oumuamua as a light sail: Evidence against artificial origin" (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021A%26A...649L..17C/abstract).
This shows that the decrease in acceleration with distance from the power source (the Sun) results in an effective terminal velocity, which is much lower than those usually suggested for conceptual solar sails.
This means that even for a huge, ultra-light, efficient sail with a modest payload, interstellar travel would take millennia, rather than decades.
See also https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucedorminey/2021/05/24/even-if-its-a-lightsail-oumuamua-isnt-practical-say-researchers/?sh=6866980033e5
