With this new technology, NASA seeks to save fuel for its future missions both on Earth and in space.
NASA is experimenting with a new technology capable of levitating objects without the intervention of engines or fuel with the intention of saving this valuable material in future missions. Because this element causes great losses for the US space agency and consumes too many non-renewable resources of the Earth , an alternative would be being evaluated through this project.
According to what the El Confidencial report indicates , the National Aeronautics and Space Administration intends to develop a system powered by solar energy so that its future ships can take off without using fuel. However, because it is extremely complex to accomplish this using solar panels alone, the agency’s scientists are looking for alternative energy bases that save money and are more friendly to our planet.
Solar-powered levitation, a new NASA project
NASA research conducted in conjunction with scientists at the University of Pennsylvania is aimed at creating solar -powered spacecraft . For now, the technology has already been successfully tested on small objects and is now being applied at scale so that it can eventually be used in space exploration.
The project consists of levitation mechanisms to keep the ship in the skies without the need to use conventional fuel. In addition, it contains photopheretic propulsion that “arises when a solid is heated relative to the ambient gas through illumination, inducing momentum exchange between the solid and the gas” according to the explanation of the research unit.
Other details of the new NASA project
NASA seeks that the ship with this new technology rise to about 50,000 or 80,000 meters in height. This height could be considered low in which planes cannot reach because the air is very dense and high enough to function as a satellite without being touched by meteorites.
In order for it to function correctly, the ship must be manufactured with nanoscopic elements that give it a fairly light composition. Once you reach the ideal height, you should be able to move horizontally. According to NASA and scientists from the University of Pennsylvania , a device of these characteristics will serve to discover mysteries related to the climate and the different layers of our atmosphere.