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Originally posted by easynow
interesting technology,
how does light create thrust ?
sure would save alot of money on fuel !
A Lightcraft is a 1kg launch vehicle, made from high temperature ceramic materials, that flies into space on a megawatt laser beam.
The Lightcraft, shown here in flight, is both a single-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle and a satellite.
A ground based laser is the power source that propels the Lightcraft into orbit. Lightcraft can deliver payloads into space for a fraction of the cost of traditional rockets because most of the engine stays on the ground, thereby unburdening the craft from having to lift the energy source for its propulsion system.
The back side of the craft is a large, highly polished parabolic mirror that is designed to capture the laser beam projected at it from the ground. The mirror focuses the beam, rapidly heating the air to 5 TIMES the temperature of the sun, creating a blast wave out the back that pushes the vehicle upward. As the beam is rapidly pulsed, the vehicle is continuously propelled forward, on its way to orbit.
Originally posted by Phage
propelled by a series of nuclear explosions. Instead of a ground based laser providing the power, the vehicle would expel little nukes which would detonate behind the vehicle, pushing it along. This design would work in or out of the atmosphere but carried with it a few "difficulties".