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Space
Space
Science
John Loeffler

Tiny spacecraft could travel across interstellar space with this 'trampoline' lightsail

Four semi-transparent silver triangles form a square in the black sky of space, hovering above bright blue Earth.

Scientists at the California Institute of Technology have taken a major step toward developing lightsails that could one day carry tiny spacecraft to distant star systems.

The new findings detail a method to measure the force of laser light on what are known as "ultrathin membranes." This is research that could help advance the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative's vision of laser-driven space travel.

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