#starshot_lib Python library relating to the Starshot Breakthrough project.
Currently the library is not very accessible; I will fix this up over the semester break. Including: • Using classes • Making code more efficient • Removing unnecessary stuff
A circular sail is propelled by a laser beam, produced from a circular laser array, to a target velocity.
This directory should be placed in the same directory as the file using it.
To use the functions, one must define parameters for the spacecraft in this format and order:
params = { "material": 'SiO2',
"m_sail": 1e-3,
"thickness": None,
"area": 10,
"density": 1400,
"abs_coeff": 1e-3,
"absorptance": None,
"reflectance": None,
"transmittance": None,
"k": 1,
"power": 1e11,
"laser_size": 1e4,
"wavelength": 1064e-9,
"alpha": 1}
======================================================================================================== Parameter Defintion
"material" ---------------------------- sail material; see the list below Input: string List of materials and their corresponding strings Material String Silica ------------ 'SiO2' Germania ------------ 'GeO2' Will be updated
"m_sail" ---------------------------- mass of the sail Input: int, float Units: kg
"thickness" ---------------------------- thickness of the sail, or thickness of layers in multilayer sail Input: list containing ints, floats Units: m
"area" ---------------------------- surface area of one side of the sail Input: int, float Units: m^2
"radius" ---------------------------- radius of the circular sail Input: int, float Units: m
"density" ---------------------------- volume density of sail material (not including the payload) Input: int, float Units: kgm^-3
"abs_coeff" ---------------------------- absorption coefficient of the material Input: int, float Units: cm^-1
"absorptance" ---------------------------- fraction of radiant flux absorbed by the sail, specifically at the non-doppler-shifted laser wavelength Input: None
"reflectance" ---------------------------- fraction of radiant flux reflected off the sail, specifically at the non-doppler-shifted laser wavelength Input: None
"transmittance" ---------------------------- fraction of radiant flux transmitted through sail, specifically at the non-doppler-shifted laser wavelength Input: None
"W" ---------------------------- Square root of RAAD ('reflectivity-adjusted area density') which is the figure of merit in Ilic 2018. Input: None Units: \sqrt(g)/m
"power" ---------------------------- laser power from the DE (directed energy) system Input: int, float Units: W
"diameter" ---------------------------- diameter of the transmitter system; must be at least the diameter of the sail (to minimise diffraction losses) Input: int, float, None Units: m
"wavelength" ---------------------------- wavelength of the laser, not including relativistic doppler shift Input: int, float Units: m
"target" ---------------------------- target speed as a fraction of the speed of light Input: int, float Units: Unitless
"accel_dist" ---------------------------- distance at which target speed is reached Input: int, float Units: m