Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket."
- George Orwell
 |
| Laser Cannon | ||
| A laser source powerful enough to provide significant light pressure to a "light sail." |
The essential problem solved by laser cannon is the transmission of power over a very great distance. Since laser light is very focused, in theory the loss of power over a great distance from the source is reduced.
It would also make a formidable weapon.
| They built my ship in two weeks flat. They started with a No. 2 General Products hull, just like the one around the Institute of Knowledge ship, and the lifesystem was practically a duplicate of the Laskins', but there the resemblance ended. There were no instruments to observe neutron stars. Instead, there was a fusion motor big enough for a Jinx warliner. In my ship, which I now called Skydiver, the drive would produce thirty gees at the safety limit. There was a laser cannon big enough to punch a hole through We Made It's moon. The puppeteer wanted me to feel safe, and now I did, for I could fight and I could run. Especially I could run. |
| From Neutron Star,
by Larry Niven. Published by Worls of If in 1966 Additional resources -
|
The term "laser cannon" was used earlier. In a 1962 book titled Report on Laser Design Study, we find "results of the design analysis indicate the feasibility of proceeding with the construction of a LASER cannon system at once."
Here's another quote from the Niven/Pournelle 1974 classic Mote in God's Eye:
The basic idea for the laser cannon/light sail propulsion system belongs to Robert L. Forward, who published a short paper Ground-Based Lasers For Propulsion In Space in 1961. (Read a short autobiography of Robert Forward.)
Leik Myrabo of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has demonstrated that ground-based lasers can be used to shoot objects into the heavens. The small model craft succeeded in reaching over 100 feet, which compares well to the first test flight of a rocket design by Robert Goddard.
Myrabo's "lightcraft" design is a reflective funnel-shaped craft that channels heat from the laser, towards the center, causing it to literally explode the air underneath it, generating lift.
For more on early uses of solar sail, see the entry from Jack Vance's Sail 25, and starlight sail (light sail) from Cordwainer Smith's The Lady who Sailed The Soul.
The idea of using light pressure to move a spaceship was suggested by Jules Verne in his 1867 novel From the Earth to the Moon; see the entry for light pressure propulsion. The method was explicitly described by Edmond Hamilton in his 1929 short story The Comet Doom; see the entry for ship propelled by light pressure..
"Captain, look," he said, and threw a plot of the local stellar region on the screen. "The intruder came from here. Whoever launched it fired a laser cannon, or a set of laser cannon - probably a whole mess of them on asteroids, with mirrors to focus them - for about forty-five years, so the intruder would have a beam to travel on. The beam and the intruder both came straight in from the Mote.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 7 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Neutron Star
More Ideas
and Technology by Larry Niven
Tech news articles related to Neutron Star
Tech news articles related to works by Larry Niven
Laser Cannon-related
news articles:
- First Flight of a Laser Powered Airplane
- HELLADS: Lightweight Laser Cannon
- Laser-Powered Aircraft Model Tested
- Laser Propulsion May Beam Spacecraft To Orbit
- Laser-Powered Helicopter
- Laser Lofts UAV for Two Day Flight
- HEL MD Laser Weapons Will Sound Like Star Wars, Star Trek
- Laser-Powered Spacecraft To Explore The Solar System
- Breakthrough Starshot Sends Chip Craft To The Stars
- Breakthrough Starshot Sprites Yearn For Alpha Centauri
| Yes, But Do Astrobees Have Lasers For Lightsaber Training? |
| Japan Uses Explosives On Asteroid |
| Johns Hopkins Says Asteroid Deflection Will Be Difficult |
| Hayabusa 2 To Begin Asteroid Mining |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
'... there was enough flexibility to allow for wide variation.
'...a man carried a white rectangular sign, blank on both sides.'
'... electronic, private cash, unbacked by any government, untraceable, completely anonymous.'
'Your Dip digs back into antiquity. Rome. Greece. Dust and old volumes.'
'Then it appeared to make up its mind, and trundled over to a wall socket...'
'... The biological robots were not living creatures.'
'The surveillance cameras can all see it, but then they forget they’ve seen it.'
