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A new propulsion system could levitate vehicles in the Earth's upper atmosphere

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https://www.universetoday.com/159729/a-n...tmosphere/

EXCERPT: . . . Enter a new technology from the lab of Dr. Igor Bargatin, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. The technology takes advantage of a phenomenon known as photophoretic levitation to float devices simply by hitting them with light.

That propulsion technology might sound similar to that used on a solar sail, but the delicate layers of foil used on solar sails would die a horrible death in the Earth’s atmosphere. The photophoretic effect, which has been known for almost a century, uses the heating of a solid compared to the ambient gas as a lifting force. As Dr. Bargatin’s press release on the NIAC website states, “The [photophoretic] force creates lift in structures that absorb light on the bottom yet stay cool on the top.”

Dr. Bargatin’s lab’s contribution to this century-old science is to make the first macroscale demonstration of a system using this technology. Previous attempts had all been on the micrometer scale, as the lifting force is extraordinarily weak, making it difficult to exert any significant lifting force on whatever payload it might be attached to... (MORE - details)

NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacet...ploration/

https://youtu.be/5X4br9lqdJU

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/5X4br9lqdJU
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