When it comes to all things airborne transportation, nobody has ever managed to best the work of aircraft manufacturing company Boeing. Now it seems as though Boeing is attempting to reach further into the future than ever before, by filing a patent for the first ever laser powered propulsion system.
No stranger to innovation Boeing has blazed a bold path to get where they are today, but this seemingly impossible feat would prove to be their greatest innovation, and one of the greatest innovations to affect travel in centuries.
The incredible science behind a laser powered propulsion system
Boeing’s design essentially involves an extremely high powered laser which is fired at radioactive materials inside of an engine creating a nuclear fusion-fission reaction, which then powers the engine, finally the engine powers the laser starting the whole process over again.
Boeing’s entire design is so radical it has left most in the science community stunned, and those who aren’t dumbfounded understand that this project is long way from becoming a reality. Our nuclear energy capabilities at the moment are fairly limited. In order for this system to work Boeing would first need to find an economically viable, and safer way to produce nuclear reactions for their laser powered propulsion system.
Why would Boeing bother to file a patent for something that is considered impossible?
Most great ideas begin as impossible thoughts, and if anyone could harness this technology it’s Boeing. They already have a large amount of experience with laser technology as demonstrated by their work with the U.S. Navy in developing the Free Electronic Laser weapon system, a device capable of using advance laser technology to fire at incoming targets.
Boeing also possesses the massive amount of resources need to pool together ideas in order to make this a reality. Currently Boeing has 163,466 employees working for them scattered all over the globe. With sheer manpower like that it’s hard to imagine not being able to get the laser powered propulsion system into development at some point in the future.
While it may be an impossible task today, and Boeing is still many years away from even being in development of their newly patented design, we could see Boeing’s dream of nuclear fusion/fission powered engines soaring high in the sky become a reality in our lifetimes.
