UCTV - University of California Television

First Aired: 10/20/2008
56 minutes

Creating a star on Earth is the goal of the National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world's largest laser. When completed in 2009, NIF will focus 192 giant laser beams on a BB-sized target filled with hydrogen fuel - fusing, or igniting, the hydrogen atoms' nuclei. This is the same fusion energy process that provides the life-giving energy from the sun. NIF Director, Ed Moses, describes how NIF works and its potential to provide a limitless supply of clean, safe energy. (#15237)