Abstract:A lightsail accelerated via directed energy is a candidate technology to send a probe into the deep space in a time period compatible with human life. The light emitted by a ground-based large-aperture phased laser array is directed onto the lightsail to produce a thrust by transferring the momentum of the incident photons. To achieve high efficiency propulsion, the lightsail must be characterized by extremely low mass, high reflectance and minimal absorption in the Doppler-shifted laser wavelength range, whil… Show more
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