The researchers note that one major question of using solar sails is deceleration, or slowing down, upon arriving at the destination, specifically Mars, and while they mention aerocapture as one solution, they admit this still requires further study.

[–] IndefiniteBen@leminal.space 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Sounds like it's probably best to work out all these issues with small payloads before scaling up to human transport.

[–] Fermion@feddit.nl 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It can't really be scaled up to human carrying capacity. The density of solar wind is very sparce. Any sail large enough to accelerate a human habitat would itself become too heavy.

[–] drbluefall@toast.ooo 1 points 1 year ago

So I guess we're back to the drawing board.

Do we got those nuclear engines kicking around anywhere?