Light Propulsion

[Owner626]

Now build a solar powered laser in space

n have it focus the solar powered laser at the rocket n see how far & fast it can go!

[blahblahblah355345]

lolol thts total BS he can afford a laser powered flying toy but yet he cant afford a decent camera the theory behind this shit is solid but we dont have the technology yet to make strong enough lasers to make it possible......if we did the army wouldnt be using bullets and cops would have phaser guns u ppl gotta think before u believe what u see on youtube

[granddad2002]

I'd like to see this grow into a 'Forward Lasersail' ....Not just a means to get into orbit... But a network of cosmic highways with vehicles running near light speed? If you could get a craft moving to relativistic speeds. You would have to have a network of lasers orbiting around the orbit of Mercury and a few on asteroids and airless Moons of our solar system. 36 months to Alpha Centauri ? The Center of the milky way in 15 years.... Andromeda in 21 1/2 years ? But a network around the galaxy.

[PrecisionEngineered]

@chisp1210 Because it's not profitable for some.

[chisp1210]

WHY ARE WE NOT FUNDING THIS?

[Irishlogin]

Noisy I'm betting. Especially if they build a man-rated version. Nifty concept tho.

[roidroid]

In Brazil they are currently doing tests with an incredibly powerful gigawatt pulsed laser, professor Leik Myrabo was quoted as saying:

"When you fire into the engine, it's a real wallop. It sounds like a shotgun going off inside the lab. It's really loud."

put that into quote into google to find the article.

[jadak411]

lol is that a ballon on a string with a light attatched to the balloon......

[ccaptorchen]

nope, this craft is real, seen it on tv. tho calling it light propulsion is misleading. it emits light but its not light propulsion lol its air pressure from microwaves

[TylerSadBag]

the shape of the cone is why it works. a laser beam is shot from underneith and the cone focuses the beam and super heats the air inside the cone. the super heated air expands and forces the cone up. i did research on light perpulsion last year. just letting you guys know.

[ccaptorchen]

yeah I know how it works. I am just saying calling it light propulsion is very misleading. since its air combustion that is really the propellant. did a little research myself.

[idrilyciryatan]

ahi se ve el hilo :S

[Daemo4]

an explanation would help me believe.

[Cailwyn]

Believe it, it's real. It works by radiation pressure, coupled with heat pressure. The inside has a highly reflective surface that is shaped in such a way as to maximise the effect of pressure exerted by a high power laser pointed in throught the bottom of the device.

[CSK225]

Yeah, definitely real. Leik Myrabo invented this device in the 1980's - this is old footage of the earlier models. I think it uses a laser in the megawatt range. The way it works is this: The underside of the craft is a parabolic reflector and the high power laser light is reflected to a focal point just behind the craft and literally creates and air explosion. These are the bright flashes. So, the device is propelled by an explosion, albeit one that is caused by extremely high powered lasers.

[DrakeBD07]

if thats real thats pretty good how did you do it