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How does one calculate the necessary surface area for a laser-propelled light sail for a spacecraft, so it doesn’t get shredded by the beam? (lemmy.world)

submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by JoshuaSlowpoke777@lemmy.world to c/askphysics@lemmy.world

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Edit: I assume we’d at least have to take intended acceleration and the mass of the spacecraft into account, at least, right?

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[–] Pons_Aelius@kbin.social 6 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Sometimes it is best to go to source papers as lemmy/kbin does not handle complex formula well.

Here is a link to a relevant paper:

Theory of light sail acceleration by intense lasers

Another paper on the effectiveness of various materials in solar sail production:

Multilayers for directed energy accelerated lightsails

[–] JoshuaSlowpoke777@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

So let’s say the spacecraft itself is about 1 billion metric tonnes, the sail is made of 7 layers containing titanium oxide and magnesium difluoride, the beam can keep itself consistent, and the intended acceleration is 1g…