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

The idea of a lightsail comes from the fact that radiation pressure represents a mechanical pressure acting on a surface due ...

Powered by laser light, this tiny sail lays the groundwork for future advances in lightsail technology and the potential for ...

To begin their research, the team built a small, tethered lightsail within a larger membrane. They then shined a visible ...

"The lightsail will travel faster than any previous spacecraft, with potential to eventually open interstellar distances to direct spacecraft exploration." Scientists at the California Institute ...

The ultimate goal of the lightsail project is to drive a freely accelerating lightsail that is 10 square meters in area and 100 nm or less in thickness. In this first experimental step, the Caltech ...

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

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

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