Re: Small interstellar payloads

ianparker2@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
Forward proposed a twin sail solution.

Use a solar sail to slow down? What pushes on the sail when you're near the target system? I don't think sunlight'll be enough, from relativistic speed.

A SMALL probe ca be decelerated
by antimatter as the original contributer proposed.

That sounds doubtful; the energy released from matter-antimatter annihilation comes out in the form of extremely hard gamma, muons, pions and other extremely penetrating particles, not to mention the requirement for magnetic storage en route and the power supply for that. I'm skeptical about the prospects of using it non-suicidally on anything other than a very large craft.

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