Caltech scientists are developing laser-driven lightsails that could push spacecraft beyond our solar system. Their research ...

The idea of traveling through interstellar space using spacecraft propelled by ultrathin sails may sound like the stuff of sci-fi novels. But in fact, a program started in 2016 by Stephen Hawking and ...

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 ...