From: g_d_pusch_remove_underscores@xnet.com   
      
   alexterrell@yahoo.com (Alex Terrell) writes:   
      
   > If you go much bigger, you start to provide engine units for the solar   
   > array, to distribute the load.   
      
   Largely pointless, because the Law of Diminishing Returns kicks in rapidly.   
   In the limit of a large number of thrust units, you no longer have a single   
   solar panel --- you have a fleet of solar-panel/engine-unit combinations   
   flying in _very_ tight formation, with each engine effectively pushing   
   only that fraction of the solar panel immediately providing power for it.   
   Conclusion is that using more than a few engines is largely pointless ---   
   one might as well stop with one main engine, and at _most_ three or four   
   smaller engines strategically placed to minimize panel sag when under thrust;   
   anything more is overkill.   
      
      
   -- Gordon D. Pusch   
      
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