Q&A 94: Can Solar Sails Explore The Outer Solar System? And More...
In this week's questions show, I answer a question about solar sails, what geologists might learn from lunar rocks, if Earth could survive inside Jupiter, could gas giants be closer to the Sun, and more.
Watch the video here:
Comments (2)
So I’ve been wondering, if a laser can push a solar sail what’s to keep the laser from pushing itself around? For instance the SpaceX pizza box internet thing, wouldn’t they be knocking themselves off course constantly? My thinking is mass and station keeping thrusters of some kind
Great video! Re the value of so-called pure science, my favourite example is prime number theory. In the early 20th century this was thought to be a field of pure mathematics that will never have practical application. Wind forward 100 years, and the world's economy cannot operate without cryptography (https:// in your browser, secure logon to web services, secure financial transactions across the internet, etc.) - based on prime number theory.