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Torqued Accelerator Using Radiation from the Sun (Tars) for Interstellar Payload

Torqued Accelerator Using Radiation from the Sun (Tars) for Interstellar Payload

5 comments

·July 26, 2025
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bad_username

The white paper says the payload release doesn't have to be precisely timed, if TARS is on a circular orbit, and I do not understand why. Sure, the plane in which the payload shoots off, is defined by the orbital position of TARS. But there are 360 degrees of freedom within that plane. If we aim at e.g. a specific star, how is release timing not a critical factor? And if it is, what timer would survive the solar radiation and extreme spinning, remaining reliably operational and microsecond accurate?

echelon

David Kipping of Cool Worlds Lab just uploaded a video about TARS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDM1COWJ2Hc

hersko

This is amazing. How have i never seen this channel before?

mperham

He’s an incredible scientist and educator. His back catalog of videos is well worth watching.

idiotsecant

He wrote the paper too :) Anyhow, I wonder if you can make a useful probe in the payload of a few grams? Maybe a swarm of them could act in concert to do useful things?