seneschal Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 (edited) https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.space.com/amp/9051-solar-sail-spacecraft-explore-solar-system.html Did some more research. A solar sail craft would be much faster than the International Space Station. Accelerating over a period of three years, it could reach speeds of 150,000 mph (240,000 km per hour). That means our Space Hispaniola could reach Pluto in five years or less. A ten-year round trip is much easier to prepare for than a 40-year jaunt The sail would have to be hundreds of kilometers across per side to generate those speeds, and we still don't know what the crew and cargo capacity of such a craft would be or how much fuel tankage would be required to supply a decade's worth of life support and equipment usage. But we are making progress. Our solar sail would be a giant, rigid electronics-filled Triscuit cracker that uses energy fluctuations along its surface to steer. Not what I initially imagined, but it is what real-life space programs are sending out. Edited October 25, 2019 by seneschal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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