Lightcraft

Perhaps the most promising earth to orbit system has at its root the power of lasers. Leik Myrabo is a professor of aerospace engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. For 30 years, Leik Myrabo has been pursuing the ambitious venture of laser based space travel. In simplified form, Leik’s lightcraft uses the power of an earth or possibly orbit based laser to super heat the air underneath the lightcraft. As the temperature rises to something on the degree of five times the temperatures of the sun, the air turns into a plasma and explodes creating upward force. Although many believed his lightcraft to be constrained to the confines of science fiction writing, Leik proved them wrong by levitating his lightcraft in a series of tests. The most recent of these, propelled a 1.8 ounce lightcraft to a height of 233 feet. While this is nothing compared to Leik’s final goal, it should be pointed out that these records are close to the first rocket launch heights.