I have to admit I was surprised by the headlines touting the funding of tractor beam technologies by NASA.
I've written about this kind of technology before, specifically in the broader context of how tractor beams and energy shields are portrayed in science fiction films like Star Trek. And frankly it's one of the technologies that I also mark in the "things we will probably never have" category.
So did I speak too soon?
Well, yes and no. My contention still holds that producing the kinds of fields necessary to capture, say, an entire spacecraft or asteroid are beyond our technological capability. And there is also the issue of the levels of energy that would be required to produce such fields.
On the other hand, laser-based trapping technology is quickly evolving, allowing researchers to capture and move very small things like atmospheric particles, viruses and even living cells.
So NASA has tasked researchers Paul Stysley, Demetrios Poulios and Barry Coyle to investigate three methods for particle capture that could be used in applications like Mars rovers or planetary probes.
In Phase-1 of the project the team will determine which of the available technologies holds the most promise to NASA applications.
Eventually, a probe, armed with such technology, will be venturing through our solar system, perhaps on course to catch up with a comet, like in the above animation.
It is unlikely that this technology would ever evolve into something like what we see in the Star Trek Universe, but it still has some pretty cool applications.
Video Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Conceptual Image Lab
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