Researchers develop new design and fabrication method to make lightsails for interstellar travel

Breakthrough Lightsail: Ultra-Thin, AI-Optimized, and Ready to Race to Alpha Centauri

A new collaboration between Brown University and TU Delft has brought us closer to interstellar travel using light-powered sails. By combining ultra-thin, highly reflective materials with AI-optimized nanoscale design, researchers created a revolutionary lightsail that’s cheaper, faster to make, and possibly scalable to missions like Starshot — aiming to reach nearby stars in just decades [...]

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Researchers develop new design and fabrication method to make lightsails for interstellar travel

In a potential step toward sending small spacecraft to the stars, researchers have developed an ultra-thin, ultra-reflective membrane designed to ride a column of laser light to incredible speeds.

Membrane could pave way for sails for space travel

Lightsails have the potential to reduce flight time to nearby stars from several thousand years to perhaps just a decade or two.

The membrane could advance spacecraft in interstellar journeys without fuel.

Lightsails are designed to enable space missions to other stars. Researchers from the USA and the Netherlands have significantly improved their design.