Nuclear pumped Laser
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Lightweight stuff. How about some of the x-ray lasers Teller was pushing? The one where the energy from a real working man's nuke is coupled into the lasers as the satellite ceases to be?
Now there's an input power pulse to be proud of!
Doug Owen
Now there's an input power pulse to be proud of!
Doug Owen
nerdgineer
Flashlight Enthusiast
There was an Aviation Week article (which I can't find references to any more) about 20 years ago describing the rumored test of an X-ray laser pumped by a nuclear explosion at the US testing grounds. Test instrumentation suggested it pulsed about 4 terawatts for 3 nanoseconds (the time it took the plasma ball of the nuclear fireball to consume the lasing material). Such a laser pulse could theoretically disable a nuclear warhead at very long distances, so this created a stir for a while.
I don't think the test was every repeated and there was later some suggestion that the instrument readings were incorrect. In any event, I don't think anything came of it, except it figured prominently in several SF stories of the time (see "Footfall" by Larry Niven).
I don't think the test was every repeated and there was later some suggestion that the instrument readings were incorrect. In any event, I don't think anything came of it, except it figured prominently in several SF stories of the time (see "Footfall" by Larry Niven).
kakster
Flashlight Enthusiast
They were developed for Regan's "Star Wars" SDI initiative. The idea was to have several of these on orbiting satelites to take out incoming nukes.
I remember seing footage of one of these puppies in action. The laser beam cast a negative shadow through a brick, which promptly burst into flames. Impressive stuff indeed.
I remember seing footage of one of these puppies in action. The laser beam cast a negative shadow through a brick, which promptly burst into flames. Impressive stuff indeed.
NewBie
*Retired*
How about chemical lasers???
MUCH MORE THAN JUST ANOTHER 747
In mid-December 1999, aircraft number 1238, a bare bones 747-400 Freighter, rolled off the Boeing Co. assembly line in Everett, Wash. It?s buyer was already determined ? the U.S. Air Force had become the owner of what would become the Airborne Laser (ABL). Slightly more than a month later, on Jan. 22, 2000, the aircraft was flown to the Boeing Modification Center in Wichita, Kan. By then it had acquired a name ? prototYpe Attack Laser model 1-A (YAL-1A) ? and a new number ? 00-0001 ? designating it the first military aircraft of the new millennium
Modified Airborne Laser Aircraft Takes Successful First Flight From Boeing Flight Line In Wichita
Modified Airborne Laser Aircraft Takes Successful First Flight From Boeing Flight Line In Wichita
The Airborne Laser, a highly modified Boeing 747-400, made its maiden flight on Thursday, 18 July 02, circling over western Kansas for one hour and 22 minutes before returning to its takeoff location at McConnell AFB. The aircraft, designated YAL-1A, has been at the Boeing modification facility adjacent to McConnell since January 2002 undergoing changes to prepare it for its intended role as the primary boost-phase component in the Missile Defense Agency's ballistic missile defense program. Late this year, after a series of almost a dozen functional check flights, the aircraft will be painted Air Force gray and flown to Edwards AFB for a two-year-long series of tests, which will demonstrate the effectiveness of its megawatt-class Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL) and a highly sophisticated optical system designed to track missiles and put the laser beam on target. The tests are scheduled to culminate in the shoot-down of a ballistic missile in late 2004.
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/abl/pics-clips/02_27d.html
At that point, ABL?s array of four lasers takes over. One locks onto the missile to provide detailed tracking information. Another deter-mines the aim point on the target. A third measures the amount of atmospheric disturbance between ABL and the target so computers and deformable mirrors can compensate for the amount of refraction the laser beam will encounter on its way to the target. Finally, the last laser ? the megawatt-class COIL ? will fire its killer ray.
Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL) -- ABL?s real power producer is the megawatt (1,000,000 watt)-class COIL laser section composed of six identical modules. Each module weighs roughly 4,500 pounds and is the size of an SUV turned on its end. It is a continuous wave laser that propagates at a wavelength of 1.315 microns, a wavelength chosen specifically because its beam travels well through the atmosphere. That is, little of the beam?s energy is absorbed enroute to the target. Iodine is its lasing medium
One module (LM-1) of the six that will be installed in the ABL has been tested, producing 118 per cent of anticipated power. After it was tested, LM-1 was shipped to Edwards AFB, Calif., and five clones were constructed. After the six-module laser section has been tested it will be integrated into the ABL aircraft.
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/abl/news/2004/010004_contact.html
Then there is the old Mobile / Tactical High Energy Laser
(M-THEL) Technology Demonstration Program:
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/laser-00g.html
Also, the the rest of SDI initiative is in the process of being deployed.
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/bmdo-04n.html
MUCH MORE THAN JUST ANOTHER 747
In mid-December 1999, aircraft number 1238, a bare bones 747-400 Freighter, rolled off the Boeing Co. assembly line in Everett, Wash. It?s buyer was already determined ? the U.S. Air Force had become the owner of what would become the Airborne Laser (ABL). Slightly more than a month later, on Jan. 22, 2000, the aircraft was flown to the Boeing Modification Center in Wichita, Kan. By then it had acquired a name ? prototYpe Attack Laser model 1-A (YAL-1A) ? and a new number ? 00-0001 ? designating it the first military aircraft of the new millennium
Modified Airborne Laser Aircraft Takes Successful First Flight From Boeing Flight Line In Wichita
Modified Airborne Laser Aircraft Takes Successful First Flight From Boeing Flight Line In Wichita
The Airborne Laser, a highly modified Boeing 747-400, made its maiden flight on Thursday, 18 July 02, circling over western Kansas for one hour and 22 minutes before returning to its takeoff location at McConnell AFB. The aircraft, designated YAL-1A, has been at the Boeing modification facility adjacent to McConnell since January 2002 undergoing changes to prepare it for its intended role as the primary boost-phase component in the Missile Defense Agency's ballistic missile defense program. Late this year, after a series of almost a dozen functional check flights, the aircraft will be painted Air Force gray and flown to Edwards AFB for a two-year-long series of tests, which will demonstrate the effectiveness of its megawatt-class Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL) and a highly sophisticated optical system designed to track missiles and put the laser beam on target. The tests are scheduled to culminate in the shoot-down of a ballistic missile in late 2004.
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/abl/pics-clips/02_27d.html
At that point, ABL?s array of four lasers takes over. One locks onto the missile to provide detailed tracking information. Another deter-mines the aim point on the target. A third measures the amount of atmospheric disturbance between ABL and the target so computers and deformable mirrors can compensate for the amount of refraction the laser beam will encounter on its way to the target. Finally, the last laser ? the megawatt-class COIL ? will fire its killer ray.
Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL) -- ABL?s real power producer is the megawatt (1,000,000 watt)-class COIL laser section composed of six identical modules. Each module weighs roughly 4,500 pounds and is the size of an SUV turned on its end. It is a continuous wave laser that propagates at a wavelength of 1.315 microns, a wavelength chosen specifically because its beam travels well through the atmosphere. That is, little of the beam?s energy is absorbed enroute to the target. Iodine is its lasing medium
One module (LM-1) of the six that will be installed in the ABL has been tested, producing 118 per cent of anticipated power. After it was tested, LM-1 was shipped to Edwards AFB, Calif., and five clones were constructed. After the six-module laser section has been tested it will be integrated into the ABL aircraft.
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/abl/news/2004/010004_contact.html
Then there is the old Mobile / Tactical High Energy Laser
(M-THEL) Technology Demonstration Program:
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/laser-00g.html
Also, the the rest of SDI initiative is in the process of being deployed.
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/bmdo-04n.html
James S
Flashlight Enthusiast
"It is possible to synthesize excited bromide in an argon matrix. Yes, it's an eximer, frozen in it's excited state... It's a chemical laser but in solid not gaseous form. Put simply, in deference to you Kent, it's like lazing a stick of dynamite. As soon as we apply a field, we couple to a state, which is radiatively coupled to the ground state. I figure we can extract at least 10 to the 21st photons per cubic centimeter, which will give one kilo-joule per cubic centimeter at 600 nanometers, or 1 mega-joule per liter."
Willmore
Enlightened
Building such a laser is, of course, a moral imperative.
d'mo
Enlightened
James S - "Real Genius" with Val Kilmer
Smart People on Ice!!!
Smart People on Ice!!!
James S
Flashlight Enthusiast
I do not believe it is possible to discuss lasers on the internet for any length of time without this movie being brought up /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif And as far as I'm concerned this is a good thing.
unfortunately, this movie ruined college for me. I never met any student beauticians and as a freshman I was not allowed anywhere near the interesting things the grad students were working on.
However, I did have a chance to spend quite a bit of time in labs at other schools and lasers that required water cooling and power supplies the size of filing cabinets /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Several burn marks on the walls and door of that lab where people hadn't quite thought through the beam path... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
EDIT: Oh, and I used to be the stand partner of Dr Tung H. Jeong in the North Suburban Symphony (I'm not in that picture as it's been a long time since I've lived there to play with them), but I believe that is Dr Jeong at the back of the first violin section there on that front page[/url] We both played the violin with them for many years together.
unfortunately, this movie ruined college for me. I never met any student beauticians and as a freshman I was not allowed anywhere near the interesting things the grad students were working on.
However, I did have a chance to spend quite a bit of time in labs at other schools and lasers that required water cooling and power supplies the size of filing cabinets /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Several burn marks on the walls and door of that lab where people hadn't quite thought through the beam path... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
EDIT: Oh, and I used to be the stand partner of Dr Tung H. Jeong in the North Suburban Symphony (I'm not in that picture as it's been a long time since I've lived there to play with them), but I believe that is Dr Jeong at the back of the first violin section there on that front page[/url] We both played the violin with them for many years together.
