Some options you didn’t mention (maybe on purpose because they are less efficient?):
Cheating the rocket equation using pulse propulsion
Breaking a laser sail spaceship by having a mirror that detaches and reflects the laser back to the spaceship but from the opposite direction (don’t remember whose idea that is)
Also, your rocket equation is non-relativistic, although IIRC the relativistic equation is the same just with change in rapidity instead of change in velocity.
Yeah, I think the original proposal for a solar sail involved deceleration by having the central part of the sail detach and receive the reflected beam from the outer “ring” of the sail. I didn’t do this because IIRC the beam only maintains coherence over 40 lightyears or so, so that trick would be for nearby missions.
I’m talking about using a laser sail to get up to near c (0.1 g acceleration for 40 lightyears is pretty strong) in the first place, and slowing down by other means.
This trick is about using a laser sail for both acceleration and deceleration.
Some options you didn’t mention (maybe on purpose because they are less efficient?):
Cheating the rocket equation using pulse propulsion
Breaking a laser sail spaceship by having a mirror that detaches and reflects the laser back to the spaceship but from the opposite direction (don’t remember whose idea that is)
Also, your rocket equation is non-relativistic, although IIRC the relativistic equation is the same just with change in rapidity instead of change in velocity.
Yeah, I think the original proposal for a solar sail involved deceleration by having the central part of the sail detach and receive the reflected beam from the outer “ring” of the sail. I didn’t do this because IIRC the beam only maintains coherence over 40 lightyears or so, so that trick would be for nearby missions.
I’m confused. Wouldn’t it mean that even without this trick laser sail is only for nearby missions?
I’m talking about using a laser sail to get up to near c (0.1 g acceleration for 40 lightyears is pretty strong) in the first place, and slowing down by other means.
This trick is about using a laser sail for both acceleration and deceleration.
Makes perfect sense, forget I asked.