NASA Successfully Flies First Laser-powered Aircraft | SpaceRef - Your Space Reference

NASA Successfully Flies First Laser-powered Aircraft | SpaceRef - Your Space Reference: "But a team of researchers from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, Calif., and the University of Alabama in Huntsville is trying to change that.

They have now chalked up a major accomplishment... and a 'first.' The team has developed and demonstrated a small-scale aircraft that flies solely by means of propulsive power delivered by an invisible, ground-based laser. The laser tracks the aircraft in flight, directing its energy beam at specially designed photovoltaic cells carried onboard to power the plane's propeller."