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A comment on A Visionary Project Aims for Alpha Centauri, a Star 4.37 Light-Years Away. Parent comment

Re:A Visionary Project Aims for Alpha Centauri, a Star 4.37 ... by phkahler on Tuesday April 12, 2016 @01:56PM (#11481897)
And where does the reflected laser light go? Back to earth if it's reflected 180 degree.

And how does a device weighing a few grams emit a signal capable of detection back on earth? The Voyager probes are over half a light-day from earth but they have rather large antennas.

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Re:A Visionary Project Aims for Alpha Centauri, a Star 4.37 ... by jessriedel on Tuesday April 12, 2016 @01:59PM (#11481921)
Relevant comment below: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11481689
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Re:A Visionary Project Aims for Alpha Centauri, a Star 4.37 ... by LeifCarrotson on Tuesday April 12, 2016 @04:33PM (#11483324)
It goes back in the general direction of Earth. The reflector needs to be highly efficient, but it doesn't need to be perfectly flat.
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