Hi,
I’ve been trying to work out how far you could get using a spacecraft which uses both a solar sail and ion propulsion.
The nearest star (other than the sun) Is proxima centauri, which is 4.22 light years away. Could we send a spacecraft all the way to proxima centauri, using just a solar sail and ion propulsion? If so, how much further could we get a spacecraft using that propulsion system to go? Thanks in advance for your answers!
Sorry, I forgot to add, I meant an unmanned spacecraft, already being used or developed by NASA, ESA or another space agency (I’m sorry, I’m not sure which one would be the most efficient in this case.)
Assuming also that time was not of any consequence.
