Experimental investigation of laser-pushed light sails in a vacuum

Myrabo, Leik N.; Knowles, Timothy R.; Bagford, John O.; Seibert, Daniel B.

doi:10.1117/12.407375

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…It was in 2000 that the first experiment was carried out (Myrabo et al, 2000) devoted to measuring laser photonic thrust performance with real candidate sail materials. Such experiments show the validity of solar sailing theory against the objections reported above (Section 2.1).…”

Section: Appendix -A Recent Accurate Procedures Demonstrating Light Prmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon Nanotube Membrane Solar Sails A Challenge for Extremely Fast Space Flight

Santoli¹

2010

Carbon Nanotubes

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Section: Appendix -A Recent Accurate Procedures Demonstrating Light Prmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon Nanotube Membrane Solar Sails A Challenge for Extremely Fast Space Flight

Santoli¹

2010

Carbon Nanotubes

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“…32,33 A separate set of experiments performed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base by Leik Myrabo have shown the effects of laser propulsion on a molybdenum sail. 34 The Cosmos 1 sail will not be carbon-carbon but aluminized, reinforced Mylar. Benford's team hopes to use the Deep Space Network of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory via the Goldstone antenna to give it a microwave push.…”

Section: Sail Concepts and Beamed Energymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Interstellar Conundrum: A Survey of Concepts and Proposed Solutions

Gilster¹

2005

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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Once considered intractable, the problem of interstellar flight is slowly yielding to analysis. Although manned missions to the stars are exceedingly improbable in this century, the possibility of interstellar robotic probes should not be ruled out. Recent laboratory work and theoretical analysis suggest several near-term technologies that could, given the development of an adequate space-based infrastructure, provide the needed propulsion. Laser-driven lightsails offer the key advantage of leaving the fuel behind, with the laser beam focused by a large Fresnel lens in the outer Solar System. Perhaps more efficient is the use of a particle beam to boost a spacecraft by interacting with its magnetic sail, the latter a system already under intense scrutiny. Variations on "pellet" propulsion using macroscopic objects continue to surface, their mass converted to energy as they arrive at the departing starship. Interstellar flight will be both difficult and expensive, although it can no longer be considered an impossibility. This paper examines the above concepts and relates them to older ideas, such as the Bussard ramjet, that are currently out of favor. The vibrancy of interstellar flight studies is its syncretism-it was through analysis of the drag problem in fusion ramjet designs that a practical means of decelerating an interstellar probe by deployment of a magnetic sail emerged. The intermingling of such ideas offers the hope of robust hybrid concepts that may make interstellar flight a reality.

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“…A more recent study inquired into the thermal and mechanical stresses that the lightsail experiences during laser-driven acceleration and has concluded that spherically curved lightsails of appreciable curvature are better suited to sustain the large laser loads [35]. Of note are also the experimental efforts of Myrabo et al who conducted investigations on the problem of sail stability by subjecting lightsail prototypes to laser loads in vacuum [36].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%