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VERSION:2.0
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Atlantic/Canary:20191028T150000
DTEND;TZID=Atlantic/Canary:20191028T160000
UID:iactalks-1213
X-WR-CALNAME: IAC Talks: Open Astronomy Seminars
X-ORIGINAL-URL: /iactalks/Talks/view/1213
CREATED:2019-10-28T15:00:00+00:00
X-WR-CALDESC: IAC Talks upcomming talks
SUMMARY:Starshot; the first interstellar probe
DESCRIPTION:Starshot; the first interstellar probe\nDr. James Benford\n\nBr
 eakthrough Starshot is an initiative by the Breakthrough Foundation to pro
 ve ultra-fast ultra-light nanospacecraft can be launched by laser radiatio
 n pressure to nearby stars, and will lay the foundations for a first launc
 h to Alpha Centauri within the next generation. Designs for a 0.2c Alpha C
 entauri mission minimize beam director capital cost by accelerating a ~4 m
 , several gram diameter sailcraft for ~10 min. A number of hard engineerin
 g challenges remain to be solved before these missions can become a realit
 y: Large coherent laser arrays are required. No consensus has been reached
  on the most suitable sail geometry for stable flight, “beam-riding&
 rdquo;. The sail itself requires major advances in materials science and p
 hotonic design to produce materials with the required absorptance, emittan
 ce, reflectance, areal density and operating temperature. Along the way, t
 he project will enable increasingly fast outer solar system and interstell
 ar precursor missions. Breakthrough Starshot will pave the way for multi-l
 ightyear pipelines of sailcraft that fly past each target star every few w
 eeks. Beams such as Starshot will produce an extremely observable transien
 t feature of Earth and therefore could be an observable of extraterrestria
 l advanced civilizations.
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