By Julie Cohen -
A laser-powered wafer-thin spacecraft capable of reaching Alpha Centauri in 20 years may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but it's not. And while such a launch isn't imminent, the possibility of one in the future does exist, according to UC Santa Barbara physics professor Philip Lubin.
To further explore that possibility, Lubin and his team in UCSB's Experimental Cosmology Group will study photo-driven propulsion—the use of lasers as a means to power a spacecraft.
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Researchers are analyzing the possibility of directed energy propulsion for interstellar travel
