[Interview] Punching NanoHoles in Light Sails Can Bring Us Closer to Alpha Centauri

Launching Breakthrough Starshot light sail probes to Alpha Centauri requires a lot of new tech, including the actual light sails. How do you make the optimal material to maximize the size with minimising mass? Finding out in this interview.

😍 [Interview+] Same video. No YT ads.

https://www.patreon.com/universetoday

🟣 Guest: Lucas Norder

https://www.tudelft.nl/en/staff/l.norder/

📜 Pentagonal photonic crystal mirrors: scalable lightsails with enhanced acceleration via neural topology optimization

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-57749-y

• 00:00 Intro


• 02:11 Current state of tech


• 04:58 Nano-holes in reflective material


• 11:08 Manufacturing techniques


• 14:23 Practical applications


• 20:58 Possible prototypes


• 25:57 Current obsessions


• 30:21 Final thoughts

📺 VIDEO VERSION

https://youtu.be/iHLm9oHMsyM

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