Imagine you have a toy car that you want to move forward, but you don't want to push it with your hands. Instead, you have a special kind of light called a laser that you shine on the car. This laser light is like a magical force that pushes the car forward.
That's kind of what laser propulsion is like. Instead of using gas, rockets, or wheels to move things forward, we use lasers to create a beam of concentrated light that pushes the object forward.
When the light from the laser hits a surface, it creates a force called radiation pressure. This force happens because the photons of light transfer some of their energy to the object they hit. This means that the object gets a little bit of a push in the direction the laser is pointing.
Scientists and engineers are interested in laser propulsion because it could be a way to move things in space without using fuel. A rocket needs to carry its own fuel, which makes it heavy and expensive to launch. But if we can use a laser to push a spacecraft, we won't need to carry as much fuel.
Laser propulsion also has other advantages. It can be very precise, so we can control the speed and direction of the object being pushed. And because it doesn't use fuel, it doesn't create pollution or leave debris behind in space.
There are still some challenges to overcome before laser propulsion can be used on a large scale. We need powerful lasers that can create enough force to move heavy objects, and we need to figure out how to safely direct the laser beam without harming anything in its path.
But with more research and development, laser propulsion could be a game-changer in space travel and transportation.