alt Hacker NewsThis requires sending something to at least about 548 AU and then effect falls off from there but anything you send that far will be going at a velocity that would keep it going. You would be in effective range for some time but basically you'd need to keep sending satellites to that distance in order to keep using the technique. You'd also want to send them into different directions in order to image different parts of the sky.
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ant6n • yesterday at 7:42 PM
It’s basically imaging one exoplanet per satellite. Would be good to figure out a way to slow down at 500 AU. In order to maximize the time for observation.
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Thanks for that comment, it made me think.
Couldn't you do something like a Hohmann transfer orbit ? As I understand it, adjusting the orbits far out there isn't as demanding as one might think (you don't have to spend the same energy you took to get out there to get into an orbit. Of course, this also means you will not be able to stay in one place and continuously map the same area, but you can map all the space within a disc?
It takes decades however to finish Hohmann transfers that far out apparently.
Rabbithole: Some calculations that may be entirely wrong would suggest that a <10000lbs spacecraft might be held "in place" for 100 yrs with a small fission reactor and an indium-based FEEP drive with about 15lbs propellant.