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

Universe Today Podcast

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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📩 CONTACT FRASER

frasercain@gmail.com

⚖️ LICENSE

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Support Universe Today Podcast

More description

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

📰 GUIDE TO SPACE Newsletter

No ads. Subscribe for FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter

🎧 PODCASTS

Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/

Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/

📩 CONTACT FRASER

frasercain@gmail.com

⚖️ LICENSE

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Support Universe Today Podcast

2025-06-02 32 min
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