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A spacecraft pushed by radiation has the major advantage that the power source is not included in the accelerated mass, making it the preferred technique for reaching relativistic speeds. There are two main technical challenges. First, to…
Materials that dissipate energy efficiently under high-speed impacts, from micrometeoroid strikes on spacecraft to ballistic penetration in protective systems, are essential for maintaining structural integrity in extreme environments. Yet,…
The CERN-SPS accelerator has been briefly operated in a new, lower intensity neutrino mode with ~10^12 p.o.t. /pulse and with a beam structure made of four LHC-like extractions, each with a narrow width of 3 ns, separated by 524 ns. This…
To study the influence of the structural properties of UCx targets on their release properties, several types of targets using different precursors (carbon and uranium) were synthesized, characterized, irradiated and heated leading to the…
We derive the non-linear dynamical equations for an augmented electromagnetic railgun, whose augmentation circuit is inductively coupled to the gun circuit. We solve these differential equations numerically using example parameter values.…
The study investigated transparent on-chip structures with a rectangular profile and triangular profiles with grating ridge base angles of $\alpha = 36^\circ$, $30^\circ$, and $20^\circ$. Each triangular structure had both left- and…
A conceptual design of a launch vehicle involves the optimization of trajectory and stages considering its launch operations. This process encompasses various disciplines, such as structural design, aerodynamics, propulsion systems, flight…
We estimate the temperature distribution in the rails of an electromagnetic rail gun (EMG) due to the confinement of the current in a narrow surface layer resulting from the skin effect. In order to obtain analytic results, we assume a…
The kinematic features of a centaur-type humanoid platform, combined with a powerful actuation, enable the experimentation of a variety of agile and dynamic motions. However, the higher number of degrees-of-freedom and the increased weight…
A projectile (84^Kr_36) having kinetic energy around 1 A GeV was used to expose NIKFI BR-2 emulsion target. A total of 700 inelastic events are used in the present studies on projectile fragments. The emission angle of the projectile…
Performing highly agile acrobatic motions with a long flight phase requires perfect timing, high accuracy, and coordination of the full-body motion. To address these challenges, we present a novel approach on timings and trajectory…
This study is carried out in the framework of sample-return missions to asteroids that use a low-speed projectile as the primary component of its sampling mechanism (e.g., JAXA's Hayabusa and Hayabusa2 missions). We perform numerical…
Screw-based locomotion is a robust method of locomotion across a wide range of media including water, sand, and gravel. A challenge with screws is their significant number of impactful design parameters that affect locomotion performance.…
Collisionless shock acceleration of protons and C$^{6+}$ ions has been achieved by the interaction of a 10$^{20}$ W/cm$^2$, 1 $\mu$m laser with a near-critical density plasma. Ablation of the initially solid density target by a secondary…
Unlike the rigid, high-volume automation found in industry, academic research requires process flexibility that has historically relied on variable manual operations. This hinders the fabrication of advanced, complex devices. We propose to…
We investigate launch power optimization in 12-THz super-(C+L) systems, using iterative performance evaluation enabled by NLI closed-form models. We find that, despite the strong ISRS, these systems tolerate well easy-to-implement…
This study presents several novel approaches to improve the efficiency of a single-stage coil gun. Conventional designs typically feature a uniformly wound solenoid and a ferrite projectile. For our research, we constructed a…
The performance of legged robots depends strongly on both mechanical design and control, motivating co-design approaches that jointly optimize these parameters. However, most existing co-design studies focus on optimizing link dimensions…
We report on studies of fast triggering and high-precision tracking using Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs). Two beam tests were carried out with the 180 GeV muon beam at CERN using RPCs with gas gaps of 1.00 or 1.15 mm and equipped with…
Ion acceleration in the MeV range can be routinely achieved with table-top laser technology. One of the current challenges is to improve the energy coupling from the laser to the proton beam without increasing the laser peak power.…