Could Light Alone Get Us to Another Star?
The lab test used ultrathin, nanoscale patterns to steer micron-scale devices in 3D, and researchers say the method could reach Alpha Centauri in 20 years.
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Humanity's desire to explore remote space continues to inspire new researchers to look for new ways to get to places away from home. Using conventional rocket propulsion, a journey to Alpha Centauri, the closest star to us, would take thousands of years. Instead, a team of scientists study light...
Could Light Alone Get Us to Another Star?
Using nothing but a laser beam, scientists at Texas A&M University have demonstrated that tiny engineered devices can be lifted and steered in three dimensions without any physical contact. This breakthrough could one day form the basis of a propulsion system capable of reaching our nearest neighbouring stars in decades rather than centuries.
Light has no fuel, no moving part, no weight. And that's exactly why it could become the basis for a completely new type of space propulsion. Researchers at Texas A&M University have developed tiny devices that can be moved by laser light alone, in all three spatial directions at the same time.The so-called metajets are smaller than the width of a human hair, but the physical principles behind them could one day carry space probes to the stars. …
'Metajets' could allow future spaceships to be propelled by nothing but light
If an alien in the Alpha Centauri star system were craving pizza, it would take tens of thousands of years to deliver it using today’s rocket technology. According to a press release, researchers at Texas A&M University have developed a technology that could one day reduce delivery to a mere 20 years using nothing but light for propulsion.Continue ReadingCategory: Space Systems, EngineeringTags: Texas A&M Universty, Solar Sail
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