"Jon S. Berndt" <jsb### [at] hal-pcorg> wrote:
> "Cousin Ricky" <ric### [at] yahoocom> wrote in message
> news:web.458015c7ff75702c85de7b680@news.povray.org...
> >
> > Does this estimate take relativistics effects into account?  (I've long
> > forgotten how to do the math.)  A vehicle that gets to Alpha cen in 4.5
> > years has to go pretty close to the speed of light.  The relativistic mass
> > gain would surely affect the thruster's ability to maintain acceleration.
>
> You're thinking about this way too hard! ;-)

Well, he *did* say "realistic."  It's details like this that cause
expensive, taxpayer-funded space probes to vanish without a trace.

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