I’m aware of the physics involved. You said it was impossible, and you’ve just stumbled on my First Rule of Engineering: vanishingly few goals are actually impossible to achieve, but a great many are too expensive 😉
As to your argument here: the diamond would be very small, and low mass relative to the amount of energy you can muster to expel it. The maths is the hardest part, I think, but the goal itself is just to head off in that direction. Space is big and empty but not as empty as people think; I don’t have any illusions about the chances of actually reaching Alpha Centauri. The symbolism is the point, for us.
I’m aware of the physics involved. You said it was impossible, and you’ve just stumbled on my First Rule of Engineering: vanishingly few goals are actually impossible to achieve, but a great many are too expensive 😉
As to your argument here: the diamond would be very small, and low mass relative to the amount of energy you can muster to expel it. The maths is the hardest part, I think, but the goal itself is just to head off in that direction. Space is big and empty but not as empty as people think; I don’t have any illusions about the chances of actually reaching Alpha Centauri. The symbolism is the point, for us.