[Interview] Punching NanoHoles in Light Sails Can Bring Us Closer to Alpha Centauri cover art

[Interview] Punching NanoHoles in Light Sails Can Bring Us Closer to Alpha Centauri

[Interview] Punching NanoHoles in Light Sails Can Bring Us Closer to Alpha Centauri

Listen for free

View show details

About this listen

 Launching Breakthrough Starshot light sail probes to Alpha Centauri requires a lot of new tech, including the actual light sails. How do you make the optimal material to maximize the size with minimising mass? Finding out in this interview. 😍 [Interview+] Same video. No YT ads. https://www.patreon.com/universetoday 🟣 Guest: Lucas Norder https://www.tudelft.nl/en/staff/l.norder/ 📜 Pentagonal photonic crystal mirrors: scalable lightsails with enhanced acceleration via neural topology optimization https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-57749-y 00:00 Intro 02:11 Current state of tech 04:58 Nano-holes in reflective material 11:08 Manufacturing techniques 14:23 Practical applications 20:58 Possible prototypes 25:57 Current obsessions 30:21 Final thoughts 📺 VIDEO VERSION https://youtu.be/iHLm9oHMsyM 📰 GUIDE TO SPACE Newsletter No ads. Subscribe for FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter 🎧 PODCASTS Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/ Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/ 📩 CONTACT FRASER frasercain@gmail.com ⚖️ LICENSE Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

What listeners say about [Interview] Punching NanoHoles in Light Sails Can Bring Us Closer to Alpha Centauri

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.com.au reviews

Amazon Reviews
No Reviews are Available
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.