Ken wrote:
> A few years ago Arthur C. Clark wrote a book on the subject. One of
> the articles mentioned intersteller travel using solars sails with
> the assitance of space based sun driven laser systems. The speculation
> was that it is possible to not only drive a craft to a nearby star
> with a laser but it is also possible to return it with the same
> system. You can use tacking (just like in sailing against the wind)
> for the return trip. It would naturaly take longer to return but
> it is technically feasable.
Against the `wind' *and* against the gravity of the star at the other
end?
In Robert Forward's _The Flight of the Dragonfly_ / _Rocheworld_, the
ship jettisons part of its sail when it approaches the target, and uses
light reflected from that part to brake.
--
Anton Sherwood -- br0### [at] p0b0x com -- http://ogre.nu/
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