Space boffins want to drive future craft by RAYGUN
 |
| Space lasers – Wiki image |
Brid-Aine Parnell
The Register
NASA boffins are looking into making a science-fiction staple – the idea of transmitting power to spacecraft using lasers or microwaves – into reality.
Sending enough energy to replace commonly-used present day space propulsion via laser beam would be quite a feat. One of the most powerful lasers in the world that’s capable of keeping a beam going for any length of time – Boeing’s Airborne Laser Test Bed – can put out only a few megawatts of juice, but (according to El Reg’s back-of-a-pint-coaster calculations) it takes about 190 gigawatts to power the first stage of a Saturn V rocket and 4.1GW to make a single Delta IV core rocket go.
But NASA is undeterred and, after giving the project the snazzy name of Ride the Light, has dished out around $3 million to a number of companies to investigate using beamed power by lasers and microwave energy.
RELATED ARTICLE
Permanent Airborne Drones Use Laser Energy
Be the first to comment on "NASA to Beam Energy to Crafts in Space"