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197 points amichail | 2 comments | | HN request time: 1.069s | source
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consumer451 ◴[] No.41865107[source]
The most complete plan for this was proposed by JPL's Slava Turyshev and team. It has been selected for Phase III of NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts. [0]

> In 2020, Turyshev presented his idea of Direct Multi-pixel Imaging and Spectroscopy of an Exoplanet with a Solar Gravitational Lens Mission. The lens could reconstruct the exoplanet image with ~25 km-scale surface resolution in 6 months of integration time, enough to see surface features and signs of habitability. His proposal was selected for the Phase III of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts. Turyshev proposes to use realistic-sized solar sails (~16 vanes of 10^3 m^2) to achieve the needed high velocity at perihelion (~150 km/sec), reaching 547 AU in 17 years.

> In 2023, a team of scientists led by Turychev proposed the Sundiver concept,[1] whereby a solar sail craft can serve as a modular platform for various instruments and missions, including rendezvous with other Sundivers for resupply, in a variety of different self-sustaining orbits reaching velocities of ~5-10 AU/yr.

Here is an interview with him laying out the entire plan.[2] It is the most interesting interview that I have seen in years, possibly ever.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slava_Turyshev#Work

[1] https://www2.mpia-hd.mpg.de/~calj/sundiver.pdf

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqzJewjZUkk

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1. IncreasePosts ◴[] No.41870451[source]
Sadly ,the last reference I see to this project is from 2022, from his own CV on his JPL profile page. What happens after stage 3 with NIAC? Is there even a stage 4, or does it need to get selected by some committee or something?
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2. schlauerfox ◴[] No.41871245[source]
There was a massive 8% JPL layoff earlier in the year with a vauge 'uncertain upcoming budget' justification, perhaps affected a lot of plans. I don't have any inside info though.