Excuse me while I hyperventilate...
Brent Wodehouse <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
http://dialog.newsedge.com/newsedge.asp?site=2006121916143901110346&block=folderstory&briefs=off&action=XMLStoryResult&smd=true&storyid=p0906509.2rw&rtcrdata=off
9/6/2007 4:20:33 PM --- PR Newswire
Photon Propulsion Breakthrough Could Cut Mars Transit From Six Months to a
Week
PR Newswire via NewsEdge Corporation :
TUSTIN, Calif., Sept. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The aerospace industry has taken
notice of a California researcher who, using off-the-shelf components,
built and successfully demonstrated the world's first successful amplified
photon thruster. Dr. Young Bae of the Bae Institute first demonstrated his
Photonic Laser Thruster (PLT) with an amplification factor of 3,000 in
December, 2006.
Major aerospace agencies and primary contractors have since invited Bae to
present his work, including NASA JPL, DARPA (Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency), and AFRL (Air Force Research Laboratory). Senior
Aerospace Engineer at AFRL, Dr. Franklin Mead, "Dr. Bae's PLT
demonstration and measurement of photon thrust (is) pretty incredible. I
don't think anyone has done this before. It has generated a lot of
interest."
Recently, the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, a peer-reviewed AIAA
(American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) (http://www.aiaa.org)
Journal, accepted Dr. Bae's PLT demonstration paper, "Photonic Laser
Propulsion: Proof-of-Concept Demonstration" for publication this year. In
his paper Bae documents in explicit detail how he overcame the inherent
inefficiencies of traditional photon thrusters in generating thrust by
amplification with the use of an innovative optical cavity concept. For
decades rocket scientists have tried to overcome the inefficiency of
photon thrusters by amplification based on optical cavities separated from
laser sources, but failed. In contrast, Bae's patent-pending PLT
breakthrough places the laser medium within a resonant optical cavity
between two platforms to produce a very stable and reliable thrust that is
unaffected by mirror movement and vibration -- ideal for spacecraft
control or propulsion.
Dr. Bae will be presenting his PLT concepts, demonstration, and
applications at the AIAA Space 2007 Conference 18-19 September 2007 in
Long Beach, CA, in four sessions: Space Transportation Systems, Promising
Space Concepts from the NASA Institute of Advanced Concepts (NIAC), Space
Systems for the Next 50 Years, and Advanced Vehicle Systems.
The PLT research was partially funded by NIAC (NASA Institute of Advanced
Concepts) as part of a spacecraft formation flight concept grant.
Bae's PLT demonstration produced a photon thrust of 35 uN, which is
sufficient for several space missions currently envisioned, and is
scalable to achieve much greater photon thrust for future space missions.
Applications for PLT include: highly precise satellite formation flying
configurations for building large synthetic apertures in space for earth
or space observation, precision contaminant-free spacecraft docking
operations, and propelling spacecraft to unprecedented speeds greater than
100 km/sec.
Bae, looking forward with anticipation, observes, "This is the tip of the
iceberg. PLT has immense potential for the aerospace industry. For
example, PLT powered spacecraft could transit the 100 million km to Mars
in less than a week." Several aerospace players have expressed intent to
collaborate with the Bae Institute to further develop and integrate PLT
into civilian, military, and commercial space systems.
Laboratory photo images available for download:
http://gallery.ejwassoc.com/uploads/8745-R1-01-1.jpg
Background:
The Bae Institute was founded in 2002 by Dr. Young K. Bae for the purpose
of developing highly innovative space technologies for commercial and
government applications. Dr. Bae has pursued advanced propulsion concepts
such as photon, antimatter and fusion propulsion for more than 20 years at
SRI International, Brookhaven National Lab, and the Air Force Research Lab
after obtaining a Ph.D. in atomic and nuclear physics from UC Berkeley.
SOURCE Bae Institute
CONTACT: Dr. Young K. Bae, Bae Institute, [EMAIL PROTECTED], +1-
714-838-2881
<<PR Newswire -- 09/07/07>>
Copyright © 2007 PR Newswire
Copyright © 2007 Acquire Media. All rights reserved.
"There is no reason Good can't triumph over Evil, if only angels will get
organized along the lines of the Mafia." -Kurt Vonnegut, "A Man Without A
Country"
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