{"id":57832,"date":"2026-05-26T09:05:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T07:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nae.fr\/2026\/05\/26\/light-powered-propulsion-expands-space-exploration-possibilities\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T09:05:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T07:05:41","slug":"light-powered-propulsion-expands-space-exploration-possibilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nae.fr\/en\/2026\/05\/26\/light-powered-propulsion-expands-space-exploration-possibilities\/","title":{"rendered":"Light-Powered Propulsion Expands Space Exploration Possibilities"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\nReaching the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, would take hundreds of thousands of years using current rocket propulsion technology. Researchers in the J. Mike Walker \u201966 Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University have demonstrated a new approach to light-driven motion, showing that lasers can be used to lift and steer objects in multiple directions without physical contact. This breakthrough may one day enable travel to Alpha Centauri within roughly 20 years.\n\nDr. Shoufeng Lan, Assistant Professor and Director of the Lab for Advanced Nanophotonics, and his team published the work, \u201cOptical propulsion and levitation of metajets,\u201d in\u00a0Newton<\/em>. The study introduces micron-scale devices, termed \u201cmetajets,\u201d that generate controlled motion when illuminated by laser light.\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/blockquote>\nPour en savoir plus :\u00a0Light-Powered Propulsion Expands Space Exploration Possibilities<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reaching the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, would take hundreds of thousands of years using current rocket propulsion technology. Researchers in the J. Mike Walker \u201966 Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University have demonstrated a new approach to light-driven motion, showing that lasers can be used to lift and steer objects in multiple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,16],"tags":[35],"class_list":["post-57832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actualite-spatial","category-rti","tag-actualites"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLight-Powered Propulsion Expands Space Exploration Possibilities - NAE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nae.fr\/en\/2026\/05\/26\/light-powered-propulsion-expands-space-exploration-possibilities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Light-Powered Propulsion Expands Space Exploration Possibilities - NAE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Reaching the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, would take hundreds of thousands of years using current rocket propulsion technology. 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