NASA Tech Briefs: What is some of the research being conducted at MFS with respect to lasers? Robert Burdine: The laser research at Marshall Space Flight Research Center is focusing primarily around thin-disk high-power lasers. These are new technology lasers originally developed by the University of Stuttgart in Germany. We are developing them with the goal of high-energy power beaming. We are also in collaboration with the University of Alabama in Huntsville in this manner. Tim Blackwell: Just to clarify, we did not use the thin-disk laser architecture for these tests. We used an alternative laser. However, we are in the process of incorporating the thin disk idea and architecture based on the Stuttgart lasers for our future tests. NTB: What is some of the research being conducted at DRC with respect to beamed power? David Bushman: At Dryden, we’ve been pursing the application for power beaming for aircraft applications. We want to demonstrate the feasibility of the technology to actually provide power and fly an aircraft, with potential applications that include high-altitude, long-endurance type aircraft, and electric-powered aircraft planning to fly for very long periods of time. We’ve also been talking to people from other parts of NASA – such as Langley – who are exploring Martian aircraft. This technology might provide a means to power a vehicle flying in the Martian atmosphere.
Burdine:
Numerous attempts have been made at generating high enough power to accomplish
this, for instance the free electron laser is an attempt that is still
ongoing to produce very high-energy lasers for power beaming, but to date
it fails to produce the energy levels that would be required. In that
particular case, they are exploring the possibility of sending energy
from the earth to space in order to power satellites. Blackwell: Photovoltaics, over the years, have all been concentrated more on solar illumination – a broad-spectrum illumination – and less on the laser or single-line illumination. The technology has since advanced in the materials and in the processing, and they have been able to make laboratory versions of very high-efficiency photovoltaics to be used with specific wavelengths of lasers. Now they are actually coming out of the laboratory and going into the market. As the photovoltaic industry improves the cell efficiencies, we will see more and more applications.
Bushman: Commercial applications, as I mentioned before, include high-altitude, long endurance UAVs (unoccupied aerial vehicle), and the types of unmanned aircraft that are going to be up there for long periods of time. By aircraft I mean both airplanes and airships that need power to be supplied over a long period of time. There are currently organizations that are exploring all sorts of options for sustaining aircraft in that environment and this has been one more tool for them to work with. There are also potential low-altitude applications for beaming power to small UAVs as well. Burdine:
I would like to point out that an aircraft powered with a laser doesn’t
have a fuel limitation. As long as it is illuminated, even occasionally
illuminated, it can stay aloft indefinitely. So these aircraft could be
orbited over cities or other strategic sites to take over alot of the
functions that satellites now occupy. Certainly, doing away with the extreme
expense of launching a satellite, and the ability to bring the aircraft
down, replace its electronics package, and send it back up are all possibilities;
perhaps even have two aircraft and swap them out occasionally. Standards
and such for cell phones, television, the Internet, and such things can
be upgraded to the latest standards instead of being held back by a fleet
of satellites that were built maybe five or six years ago. This is certainly
one very real thing that could be done with all sorts of great commercial
potential. Blackwell: There are remote locations throughout the planet that have no power lines running to them. A very feasible and very “green energy” way of solving this is to have satellites in orbit that would allow remote locations to receive power. For example, if you had a research station on any one of the poles that don’t have power lines running to it, you could receive power to the station using beamed power technology from the satellite. This would allow the station to become mobile and not have to rely on diesel power generators that may or may not be [mobile]. NTB: What is the next step with this technology? Where do you see it heading? Burdine: We have closed this program; it is complete and I believe it was extremely successful. The next step is to evaluate what we have and to develop concepts based on our newfound knowledge. The next step will come in the form of applications for additional funding to continue development of this technology. What I would like to see personally is a vertical beaming test where we might go for an altitude record. We could fly a UAV to a significant altitude and keep it up there for a significant amount of time, and then perhaps go for a record altitude of perhaps 100,000+ feet and keep the aircraft there for several weeks as a demonstration of the commercial feasibility. Bushman: It may be worth noting that we used a very small budget for this project over the last couple of years and were able to actually do some pretty unique work within that budget. In order to do some of these concepts that we’ve been discussing – for those who are interested in participating – we are always looking for interested partners to hop onboard and help move the technology forward. A full transcript
of this interview appears online at: www.techbriefs.com/whoswho.
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