When Kimiya Komurasaki was a boy, he loved science-fiction stories about humankind being forced by a swelling sun to flee the planet.
Now he is working on a technology that could someday make that escape -- or less dramatic trips into space -- a lot easier.
The concept, called beamed-energy propulsion, sounds like something out of one of his boyhood space fantasies: using microwaves and air to power a rocket. But if it ever gets off the ground, it would mean a dramatic reduction in launch costs and an equally eye-opening increase in carrying capacity.