The original laser beam will be very large (~1 km in diameter). Initially neglecting spreading of the beam
(valid when a nanocraft is close to earth), estimate the acceleration that the nanocraft will feel, assuming
the total laser power over the entire 1-km diameter is a sustained 100 GigaWatts (1 GigaWatt = 10
9 W). Don't
forget to account for the finite size of the sail, or the fact that it is 100% reflective.
a. 330,000 m/s^2
b. 10.7 m/s^2
c. 3.2 m/s^2
d. 0.23 m/s^2
e. 670,000 m/s^2