Scientists at the California Institute of Technology have taken a major step toward developing lightsails that could one day carry tiny spacecraft to distant star systems.
The new findings detail a method to measure the force of laser light on what are known as “ultrathin membranes.” This is research that could help advance the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative’s vision of laser-driven space travel.
Launched in 2016 by the late Stephen Hawking and tech investor Yuri Milner, Breakthrough Starshot aims to send miniature probes to Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to Earth. The plan relies on high-powered lasers on Earth pushing delicate sail-driven probes in the cosmos like the wind does for sailboats here on the planet, allowing the craft to achieve record-breaking speeds without the need for a chemical propellant.
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