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Bill
Bill
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From what I understand, a lot of the difficulty in using conventional rockets to move payloads to other planets is that the object needs to lose its velocity one way or another so it doesn't slam into its destination.

It seems like this would be a difficult problem for solar sails, since they have no built-in propulsion to slow them down, and since the sun will always accelerate them in the same direction. A solar sail would require a tremendous amount of energy to slow itself down from its cruising speed. How could it be done?

From what I understand, a lot of the difficulty in using conventional rockets to move payloads to other planets is that the object needs to lose its velocity one way or another so it doesn't slam into its destination.

It seems like this would be a difficult problem for solar sails, since they have no built-in propulsion. A solar sail would require a tremendous amount of energy to slow itself down from its cruising speed. How could it be done?

From what I understand, a lot of the difficulty in using conventional rockets to move payloads to other planets is that the object needs to lose its velocity one way or another so it doesn't slam into its destination.

It seems like this would be a difficult problem for solar sails, since they have no built-in propulsion to slow them down, and since the sun will always accelerate them in the same direction. A solar sail would require a tremendous amount of energy to slow itself down from its cruising speed. How could it be done?

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Bill
Bill
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From what I understand, a lot of the difficulty in using conventional rockets to move payloads to other planets is that the object needs to lose its velocity one way or another so it doesn't slam into its destination.

It seems like this would be a difficult problem for solar sails, since they have no built-in propulsion. A solar sail would require a tremendous amount of energy to slow itself down from its cruising speed. How could it be done?

From what I understand, a lot of the difficulty in using conventional rockets to move payloads to other planets is that the object needs to lose its velocity one way or another so it doesn't slam into its destination.

It seems like this would be a difficult problem for solar sails. A solar sail would require a tremendous amount of energy to slow itself down from its cruising speed. How could it be done?

From what I understand, a lot of the difficulty in using conventional rockets to move payloads to other planets is that the object needs to lose its velocity one way or another so it doesn't slam into its destination.

It seems like this would be a difficult problem for solar sails, since they have no built-in propulsion. A solar sail would require a tremendous amount of energy to slow itself down from its cruising speed. How could it be done?

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Bill
Bill
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How do you slow down a solar sail?

From what I understand, a lot of the difficulty in using conventional rockets to move payloads to other planets is that the object needs to lose its velocity one way or another so it doesn't slam into its destination.

It seems like this would be a difficult problem for solar sails. A solar sail would require a tremendous amount of energy to slow itself down from its cruising speed. How could it be done?