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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 ridgeguy on Wednesday April 13, 2016 @02:12AM (#11486106)
Would a slightly conical mirror with its apex pointed towards the laser be self-stabilizing in tilt? Kind of like an aircraft with dihedral wings [1] is self-stabilizing in roll - imagine the laser illumination as an analog of the aero lift vector on the wings. If it tilts wrt the laser, the asymmetric illuminated area should counter the tilt.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihedral_(aeronautics)

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Re:A Visionary Project Aims for Alpha Centauri, a Star 4.37 ... by ScottBurson on Wednesday April 13, 2016 @04:39PM (#11492003)
An excellent idea. But then you have to worry about oscillation and damping.

The stabilization problem sounds really hard to me.

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