Re: On the contrary!
"...there is no point in leaving it to clutter NEO, so it'll gracefully dispose of itself."
N.E.O. is irretreivably cluttered already. One more little blob wouldn't make much of a difference.[As everyone mutters while throwing their plastic straws into the rivers. :) ]
If the idea is to prove the concept of star-sails being practical and viable then the object should have done something *useful* such as zip past Puto or catch up to Halley. There are millions of radiometers sitting happily, and damned cheaply, on planet Earth that demonstrate the idea of light having momentum; even I have one of those This thing is just a waste of time, money, energy and resources.
It is marketing hype of vapourware, nothing more.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
