Wednesday, July 30, 2014

[vpupyzmw] Levitating blaster ray

A space ship uses the same particle beam both for propulsion and as a weapon.  For example, it glides above the surface of a planet scouring a dramatic canyon of destruction.  How powerful would the ray have to be to levitate a spaceship?  Assume, say, a beam of protons accelerated to nearly the speed of light.

Vaguely inspired by XKCD Machine Gun Jetpack, and the Independence Day movie.

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