Lightsail propulsion could enable interstellar travel at speeds never before imagined | The Breakthrough Starshot Initiative — backed by theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking and scientist Yuri Milner — aims to send miniature spacecraft to Alpha Centauri, our nearest star system.
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#LightsailPropulsion #InterstellarTravel #BreakthroughStarshot #StephenHawking #AlphaCentauri
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#LightsailPropulsion #InterstellarTravel #BreakthroughStarshot #StephenHawking #AlphaCentauri
Nature
Direct radiation pressure measurements for lightsail membranes
Nature Photonics - Simultaneous measurements of the optical force and power exerted by a collimated laser beam on a 50-nm-thick silicon nitride lightsail membrane suspended by compliant...
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Interstellar lightsails just got real: first practical materials made, 10,000x bigger & cheaper than before
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#InterstellarTravel #Lightsails #SpaceInnovation #FutureTech #BreakthroughMaterials
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#InterstellarTravel #Lightsails #SpaceInnovation #FutureTech #BreakthroughMaterials
Nature
Pentagonal photonic crystal mirrors: scalable lightsails with enhanced acceleration via neural topology optimization
Nature Communications - Here the authors develop large-scale nanomaterials to improve the performances of laser propulsion using an easily scalable structure, thus bringing us closer to...
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