I think there’s probably a variety of more complicated factors involved that we haven’t considered. Doesn’t really matter for the story, it’s sufficient to leave stuff unsaid as long as the currently understood boundaries of the possible are respected.
Would the probe emit an ‘ablative antimatter particle shield’ which coasted alongside the probe and eliminated dust particles approaching from the sides?
Launching a probe with a laser probably involves an umbrella shaped probe with the umbrella shaft being the ‘true’ probe, and the umbrella canopy being a ‘first stage acceleration’ disposable parabolic mirror made of something like mylar and carbon fiber. The mirror gets jettisoned at some point. Fun to speculate about, but not really critical to planning the next few decades. A far smarter mind than mine will have time to work out these details before they’re needed.
I think there’s probably a variety of more complicated factors involved that we haven’t considered. Doesn’t really matter for the story, it’s sufficient to leave stuff unsaid as long as the currently understood boundaries of the possible are respected.
Would the probe emit an ‘ablative antimatter particle shield’ which coasted alongside the probe and eliminated dust particles approaching from the sides?
Launching a probe with a laser probably involves an umbrella shaped probe with the umbrella shaft being the ‘true’ probe, and the umbrella canopy being a ‘first stage acceleration’ disposable parabolic mirror made of something like mylar and carbon fiber. The mirror gets jettisoned at some point. Fun to speculate about, but not really critical to planning the next few decades. A far smarter mind than mine will have time to work out these details before they’re needed.