Current space travel is inefficient and expensive because each time you launch, you have to build new boosters. However, what if you could build a spacecraft that didn’t need boosters, fuel, or an engine? How much more efficient could that be? This seemingly impractical theory would allow you to make powerful and large boosters because they would be planted on the ground. The spacecraft would no longer need engines or fuel and would be stripped down to the essentials. You may then ask, “How would you power the spacecraft without an engine?”
It seems impossible to power a spacecraft without an engine; however, laser beams may allow you move the spacecraft. Although light has no mass, it has momentum that could allow you to push the mirrors on the spacecraft if the light is bright enough. The mirror would be placed together in a “sail” formation and would be pushed by the lasers. In the 1970s, a physicist named Robert Forward theorized that powerful lasers could push a spacecraft to a tenth of the speed of light. This would allow us to get to distant stars in decades not centuries.
Russian physicist and billionaire tycoon Yuri Milner recently announced plans to launch a $100m project called “Breakthrough Starshot,” aimed at creating laser-powered interstellar travel. He believes, given the advancements in microelectronics, nanotechnology, and lasers, that interstellar travel is not as far-fetched as it seems. The biggest problem with using light to power a spacecraft is that there is very low efficiency. A 1 GW laser requires roughly the power of a nuclear power plant, however it only provides 7 newtons of thrust: a force equivalent to that to lift a glass of water. This would require the spacecraft to weigh less than a gram. Researchers have already begun to develop a single silicon “starchip” that would have a camera, computer, a communications laser, and an onboard power source.
Another pitfall that researchers have to overcome is that perfect mirrors weigh a lot, so they have to create a new technology that will be light enough to put on the spacecraft. Milner’s goal is to have several lasers aimed to create one beam combining to output 100 GW total. That would require the starship and sail to weigh approximately 5 grams. If this were to work, it would allow the spaceship to travel at ¼ the speed of light, reaching Mars in only 30 minutes. The speed the spaceship will be travelling will allow us to reach the nearest star in less than 20 years instead of centuries. The spaceship would send data back with it on board laser. A lot of this technology still needs to be developed, but it is possible for this to happen over the next few decades. Although this idea seems impossible, much of the same was said in the early days of rocketry.
Current space travel is inefficient and expensive because each time you launch, you have to build new boosters. However, what if you could build a spacecraft that didn’t need boosters, fuel, or an engine? How much more efficient could that be? This seemingly impractical theory would allow you to make powerful and large boosters because they would be planted on the ground. The spacecraft would no longer need engines or fuel and would be stripped down to the essentials. You may then ask, “How would you power the spacecraft without an engine?”
It seems impossible to power a spacecraft without an engine; however, laser beams may allow you move the spacecraft. Although light has no mass, it has momentum that could allow you to push the mirrors on the spacecraft if the light is bright enough. The mirror would be placed together in a “sail” formation and would be pushed by the lasers. In the 1970s, a physicist named Robert Forward theorized that powerful lasers could push a spacecraft to a tenth of the speed of light. This would allow us to get to distant stars in decades not centuries.
Russian physicist and billionaire tycoon Yuri Milner recently announced plans to launch a $100m project called “Breakthrough Starshot,” aimed at creating laser-powered interstellar travel. He believes, given the advancements in microelectronics, nanotechnology, and lasers, that interstellar travel is not as far-fetched as it seems. The biggest problem with using light to power a spacecraft is that there is very low efficiency. A 1 GW laser requires roughly the power of a nuclear power plant, however it only provides 7 newtons of thrust: a force equivalent to that to lift a glass of water. This would require the spacecraft to weigh less than a gram. Researchers have already begun to develop a single silicon “starchip” that would have a camera, computer, a communications laser, and an onboard power source.
Another pitfall that researchers have to overcome is that perfect mirrors weigh a lot, so they have to create a new technology that will be light enough to put on the spacecraft. Milner’s goal is to have several lasers aimed to create one beam combining to output 100 GW total. That would require the starship and sail to weigh approximately 5 grams. If this were to work, it would allow the spaceship to travel at ¼ the speed of light, reaching Mars in only 30 minutes. The speed the spaceship will be travelling will allow us to reach the nearest star in less than 20 years instead of centuries. The spaceship would send data back with it on board laser. A lot of this technology still needs to be developed, but it is possible for this to happen over the next few decades. Although this idea seems impossible, much of the same was said in the early days of rocketry.
