Quote:
Originally posted by CaptainCrunch@Jun 24 2005, 03:15 PM
I've always thought that solar sailing was a cool concept, but I never thought it was really a viable option as far as interstellar travel because your really not moving that much faster than something like the voyager probe, which means your looking at a decade long journey just to cross the solar system.
Also somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but the further away from the sun, the less animate matter to propel you, which means that when you leave the solar system, you lose your means of propulsion.
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The constant accelleration is what gets you to velocities greater than than say Voyager. Most of the interplanetary vehicles now require some sort of gravity assist to sling shot them to acceptable velocities - the intital Delta rocket boost is really just to get out of Earth's orbit and give it some initial velocity in space. After that space craft are typically limited to thrusters for guidance, which is why technology like ion propulsion and solar sails are considered to be such an advance.
The Planetary Society's webpage answers much of what you're asking:
Link