Photophoretic Propulsion

NASA

Photophoretic Propulsion Enabling Mesosphere Exploration

Igor BargatinUniversity of Pennsylvania We propose to use the photophoretic levitation and propulsion mechanism to create no-moving-parts flying vehicles that can be used to explore Earth’s upper atmosphere. The photophoretic force arises when a solid is heated relative to the ambient gas through illumination, inducing momentum exchange between the solid and the gas. The force creates lift in structures that…