dustofdeath t1_iu37mfb wrote on October 28, 2022 at 5:41 AM

Reply to comment by Redbelly98 in How long do you predict it will take before a probe reaches a habitable exoplanetand actually sends back footage of alien life? by sky_shrimp

Accelerating is easier - solar sails or lasers for example. But slowing down is a problem.

Redbelly98 t1_iu572d6 wrote on October 28, 2022 at 5:07 PM

Solar sails will not work well in interstellar space. As for lasers, far from Earth (or wherever the laser is located), the beam will be spreading out from diffraction -- at which point its power is subject to an inverse-square-law dependence.

dustofdeath t1_iu57qau wrote on October 28, 2022 at 5:12 PM

You only need to accelerate once, you won't really slow down after that.