this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2024
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I hope it can be sent somewhere neat once they are done testing. But I assume it’s not configured for long range communication.
It would be cool if it could be sent, slowly, to a “nearby” body.
Iirc, solar sail designs like this can actually go stupid fast when properly propelled by something like a laser array.
Just to zoom by the target in 100000 years so quickly no pictures or data can be captured.
The scientist Robert L. Forward discussed possible ways to handle this in his novel Rocheworld. The fiction part wasn't about the light sail, more the general AI, life extension tech, and the aliens.