Laser propulsion activity in South Africa : review article

Three sets of laser propulsion experiments have been conducted in South Africa. The first, on the MLIS kilowatt CO2 laser at Pelindaba, gave a surprisingly good result but could not be repeated after the laser chain was dismantled when South Africa's uranium isotope programme was closed. The se...

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Published inSouth African journal of science Vol. 102; no. 7; pp. 296 - 300
Main Authors Jolivet, S., McKenzie, E., Klopper, W., Turner, G., Bencherif, H., Moorgawa, R., Forbes, A., Michaelis, M.M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Academy of Science for South Africa (ASSAf) 01.07.2006
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Summary:Three sets of laser propulsion experiments have been conducted in South Africa. The first, on the MLIS kilowatt CO2 laser at Pelindaba, gave a surprisingly good result but could not be repeated after the laser chain was dismantled when South Africa's uranium isotope programme was closed. The second, conducted with a kilowatt CO2 laser module, produced unexpectedly weak propulsion. We give reasons for the discrepancy between the two experiments. In the third experiment, hybrid solar and laser propulsion was tested: laser momentum coupling was enhanced as a result of generation of a dusty plasma by the concentrated solar energy.
ISSN:0038-2353
1996-7489