Story Created: Jun 1, 2009 at 10:00 AM MDT
Story Updated: Jun 1, 2009 at 10:00 AM MDT
Joe Pinto, of Optimax, a precision optics manufacturer, takes a photo of the target chamber in the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory.
The super laser, officially known as the National Ignition Facility, was unveiled Friday before thousands of people at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Among those in attendance were Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger; Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; and other national and local officials.
The NIF, the size of a football field, consists of 192 separate laser beams, each traveling 1,000 feet in one-thousandth of a second to converge simultaneously on a target the size of a pencil eraser.
Federal officials say they plan to put it to use on a multifaceted assignment that will include ensuring that aging nuclear weapons are still functioning properly without resorting to underground testing.
Other uses will be the study of astrophysics and experiments in developing green energy programs.
Beginning next year scientists will use the laser for experiments aimed at creating controlled fusion reactions similar to those found in the sun.
"More energy will be produced by this ignition process than the amount of laser energy required to start it. This is the long-sought goal of energy gain that has been the goal of fusion researchers for more than half a century," said NIF director Edward Moses.
The laser will also be used in astrophysics, allowing scientists to mimic conditions inside planets and new solar systems, something NIF officials say will allow for conducting experiments that could never be undertaken on Earth before.
Most of those experiments will be unclassified and are expected to provide a wealth of data to the worldwide research community.
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