Gate 1 — resolve the optical inputs
The immediate task is a traceable optical comparison before hardware ordering. Assemble the exact geometry, dielectric optical constants, graphene conductivity assumptions, bias mapping, wavelength and polarization for the published benchmark. Preserve measured data, published simulations and our calculations as separate records.
Digitized points need a figure and panel identifier, calibration method, units, phase reference and extraction uncertainty. Missing source values remain missing. Approximate example arrays may test software behavior, but they cannot pass a benchmark.
OPEN
Resolve inputs
Geometry, optical constants, polarization, bias and traceable source data.
NOT PASSED
Pass the optical comparison
Convergence, independent calculations and a justified residual tolerance.
PROPOSED
Qualify the force instrument
Known-force calibration and thermal, electrical and mechanical controls.
FUTURE
Publish and replicate
Complete data and methods; independent team and apparatus.
CONCEPT
Close the spacecraft budgets
Use measured performance in a mass, power, heat and mission model.
Gate 2 — compare independently
A model must recover the relevant optical response within a justified comparison tolerance, including losses and the power in the outgoing channels. Check numerical convergence and compare independent implementations where possible. Document disagreement rather than fitting it away with unspecified parameters.
A passed comparison should produce a reproducible report with source inputs, code version, numerical settings, residuals and limitations. The current project does not mark that gate as passed. Ordering hardware stays downstream of this work.
Gate 3 — measure, publish, replicate
After optical and apparatus design review, qualify a balance using known forces and nuisance controls. Publish the protocol, uncertainty model, calibration record and complete results. Independent repetition adds evidence that internal checking cannot provide.
Only then should a spacecraft study inherit measured device performance. The study must still close energy, momentum, thermal, mass and mission budgets. Alpha 1 follows its own coupling-and-constraints gate; it does not receive a pass from an optical result.
Contribute a specific capability
We welcome source corrections, electromagnetic modeling, precision force metrology, thermal analysis and trajectory expertise. A useful inquiry identifies the question, the evidence you can provide and the smallest next comparison that would change a decision.
The contact route below opens the existing research collaboration page. No appointment, partnership, funding award or review commitment is implied by appearing in this project. The objective is a reviewable result, followed by the right next experiment.
Bring one useful next step.
Modeling, metrology, materials or a source correction. Tell us what evidence you can add.
Start a research conversation↗Inspect the research package↗Questions worth asking
What is the next purchase?
No hardware purchase is justified by this project. Resolve the optical inputs and pass the comparison gate first.
How can I help?
Use the research contact page with a specific source correction, modeling capability, measurement method or proposed independent check.
SOURCES & SCOPE / REVIEWED 23 OCTOBER 2026
- Metric Flight: current MF-01 research package ↗Proposed measurement program, source records and open requirements.
- Metric Flight: Alpha 1 constraints ↗Company hypothesis and unresolved coupling requirements; not independent evidence.
External research is not Metric Flight performance. Concept images and diagrams are illustrative. This project introduces no new company experimental result.
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