How does one calculate the necessary surface area for a laser-propelled light sail for a spacecraft, so it doesn’t get shredded by the beam?
Edit: I assume we’d at least have to take intended acceleration and the mass of the spacecraft into account, at least, right?
Sometimes it is best to go to source papers as lemmy/kbin does not handle complex formula well.
Here is a link to a relevant paper:
Theory of light sail acceleration by intense lasers
Another paper on the effectiveness of various materials in solar sail production:
Multilayers for directed energy accelerated lightsails
So let’s say the spacecraft itself is about 1 billion metric tonnes, the sail is made of 7 layers containing titanium oxide and magnesium difluoride, the beam can keep itself consistent, and the intended acceleration is 1g…
I assume pressure is pressure is pressure even in space? We measure tensile strength in MPa.