Changing kinetic energy of spacecraft through lasers
Becrux Posts:
17/03/2008 Moon base [Web]
16/02/2008 Sawtooth cross section [Web]
10/02/2008 Momentum or energy [Web]
05/02/2008 Orion shuffle [Web] (with simpler solar sails)
Pharoz Posts:
21/11/2007 Instruction-set surfaces [Web]
20/11/2007 A semblance of gravity [Web]
19/11/2007 Sound laser analogy [Web]
18/11/2007 Transmitting kinetic energy through lasers [Web]
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Think about it. If a spacecraft were to be powered from remote energy sources what mechanisms would be available to to this? You could carry all the fuel from launch, use gravity near planets, electrical and magnetic fields would be too weak and dispersed and fixed solar panels wouldn’t collect enough energy to significantly propel the craft. Burning fuel to change the centre of mass in space seems sort of inefficient, even if it works. It has a single-cell biomechanical feel to it, like a free floating blob that inches along by periodically puffing up, shifting its weight and then contracting again.
If you could make a surface on a spacecraft that at a molecular level ‘kicks’ in a certain direction when it absorbs a photon of a specific frequency, then you might be able to move that spacecraft remotely through lasers. (I am using the term laser generically, the frequency can be outside the visible spectrum). Even if a small percentage of the incident energy (like 5%) could be used to safely move spacecraft in space that would significantly change the nature of space travel. Even so, at the moment you could call this science fiction.
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