A team of scientists has made the first experimental measurements of laser-induced motions of miniature lightsails in the lab.

Caltech researchers develop a platform to characterize ultrathin membranes for lightsails, advancing the quest for ...

A team of researchers at the California Institute of Technology devised a means of measuring the thin membranes of a lightsail, helping prove out a futuristic travel concept first imagined by ...

But building and testing these sails is a complex undertaking. “The lightsail will travel faster than any previous spacecraft, with potential to eventually open interstellar distances to direct ...

Sailing has been a mainstay of human history for millennia, so it's no surprise that scientists would apply it to traveling ...