Beam propulsion update

[bananas]

From hobbyspace.com:

Beam propulsion update
Some items regarding beamed propulsion.

I just finished listening to David Livingston's interview from last Friday with Prof. Leik Myrabo who gave an update on his design and experimental work in the area of microwave and laser driven space transport vehicles. They discussed his new book, Lightcraft Flight Handbook LTI-20: Hypersonic Flight Transport for an Era Beyond Oil. He said that the website for his company, Lightcraft Technologies, is being revamped and should debut within a week or so. It will include information on their development program.
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Leik deals mostly with beamed energy systems that are driven with either microwave or pulsed lasers, which essentially heat the air beneath the vehicle to drive it while in the atmosphere. Jordin Kare, on the other hand, has promoted the idea of using arrays of diode lasers, which have continuous output, to heat an on-board fuel to propel the vehicle. Currently, Jordin is concentrating on the Power Beaming Challenge competition with his Lasermotive team. The team is one of only three to qualify for the final event, which has been postponed several times due to technical problems with hanging the 1 km ribbon from a helicopter. In this application, of course, the beam merely supplies energy to solar panels on the lifter. However, the project does provide them experience with practical issues such as tracking the lifter and maintaining the laser on the panels.
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Beamed propulsion has grown into a world wide area of research and researchers from several countries will present their latest results at the Sixth International Symposium on Beamed Energy Propulsion (ISBEP 6), November 1 - 5 in Scottsdale, Arizona. It is organized by the American Institute of Beamed Energy Propulsion.

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