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197 points amichail | 3 comments | | HN request time: 0.018s | 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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protomolecule[dead post] ◴[] No.41867659[source]
[flagged]
1. Teever ◴[] No.41871366[source]
I bet you're talking about his name because you have nothing to contribute to the topic at hand which is solar gravitational lens based telescopes.

Which is understandable as it is a very esoteric topic. But if you don't feel comfortable talking about a subject that doesn't mean that you should change the subject to one that you do feel comfortable with.

People come to Hacker News to see experts talk about these esoteric ideas and you ruin that when you derail the conversation into something relatable out of discomfort.

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2. protomolecule ◴[] No.41879314[source]
You lost the bet. I've been following his solar gravitational lens project since the 'Direct Multipixel Imaging and Spectroscopy of an Exoplanet with a Solar Gravity Lens Mission' [0] paper came out.

What you were betting? You farm, hopefully?

[0] https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.11871

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3. Teever ◴[] No.41885800[source]
That's great! So talk about that stuff instead of bikeshedding what people should call him.