Lightcraft

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ZacFarr

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So I was reading this article about lightcraft(http://www.space.com/entertainment/0909 ... ships.html) and then I watched the video at the bottom of the page(http://www.space.com/common/media/video ... LightCraft). I read several comments and it seemed like everyone was hating on the idea. Why? Sure it was a little "light" on details as one person put it, but why is it such a bad idea? If we could remove the fuel from the spaceships then we could increase the size and amount of stuff we could send into space. Obviously this mode of transportation would only work in the atmosphere where there is air, but why not develop it so it can actually be used for something? If we used this to get things into orbit and then launched spaces from a space station in orbit with space travel ready ships then we could reduce the cost of getting things to space drastically.

That being said, at the end of this article(http://www.space.com/businesstechnology ... 00705.html) it says we would need a laser roughly 10,000 times as strong as the ones we have now. How hard would it be to make a laser that strong? I am completely ignorant of how lasers are made or what the rules are for making them stronger, so please enlighten me.

The idea seems smart to me, so why do most people react so skeptically?
 
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markododa

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Well the fact that you need a really strong lasers and a really perfect peflecting & material that can stand high temperature's is what makes it unfeasable today, when the tech is ready it will be possible.
 
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ZacFarr

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markododa":2t3ehz6d said:
Well the fact that you need a really strong lasers and a really perfect peflecting & material that can stand high temperature's is what makes it unfeasable today, when the tech is ready it will be possible.

That's true. I am curious as to how soon that technology will be available. Do you have a rough estimate?
 
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