To reach space we currently use space shuttle which has to carry tones of fuel and have two massive rocket boosters strapped to it to lift off the ground. Lasers would allow engineers to develop lighter space craft which do not need an onboard energy source. The light craft itself act as an engine and light would be the fuel. The basic idea behind light propulsion is the use of ground based laser system to heat air to explode and propel the space craft. If it works light propulsion will be thousands of time lighter and more efficient than chemical rocket engines.
The original idea of laser propulsion was formulated before the time of lasers by K.E. Tsiolkovsky in 1924. The modern history of Laser Propulsion (LP) started in 1972, when Dr. Arthur Kantrowitz (Avco-Everett Labs) first popularized the idea of using ablation of matter under intense laser fields for space transportation. Over passed thirty years LP has evolved from a pure idea into a demonstrated propulsion technology.The mostly intensive research in LP occurred from the mid-seventies to the mid-eighties
The original idea of laser propulsion was formulated before the time of lasers by K.E. Tsiolkovsky in 1924. The modern history of Laser Propulsion (LP) started in 1972, when Dr. Arthur Kantrowitz (Avco-Everett Labs) first popularized the idea of using ablation of matter under intense laser fields for space transportation. Over passed thirty years LP has evolved from a pure idea into a demonstrated propulsion technology.The mostly intensive research in LP occurred from the mid-seventies to the mid-eighties
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