To sail on winds of sunlight has long been a dream of rocket scientists.
The Planetary Society, a nonprofit that promotes space exploration, announced Monday that it would send the first of two small craft testing the technology of solar sails into orbit this May, tagging along with other small satellites on an Atlas 5 rocket.
“We strongly believe this could be a big part of the future of interplanetary missions,” said William Sanford Nye — better known as Bill Nye the Science Guy — the chief executive of the organization. “It will ultimately eventually take a lot of missions a long, long way.”
When photons — particles of light — bounce off a shiny surface, they impart a tiny bit of momentum, an effect that comes directly from the equations of electromagnetism published by the physicist James Clerk Maxwell in the 1860s. In his 1865 novel, “From the Earth to the Moon,” Jules Verne appears to have been the first to realize that this force could be harnessed for space travel. The bombardment of sunlight over a large area can gradually but continuously accelerate a spacecraft.
LightSail, a solar sail spacecraft, is to be launched into orbit in May. Its Mylar sail will be about the size of a loaf of bread when it is launched, but will be unfurled to a span of almost 345 square feet after a month of testing.
Read more: Hoping to Set Sail on Sunlight
The Latest on: Solar sail
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The Latest on: Solar sail
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NASA pioneers new space travel with solar sail system using sunlight to propel spacecraft, revolutionizing exploration beyond traditional rocket fuel limitations.
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NASA has launched the latest attempt to test solar sail propulsion technology.
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Nearly a week after launching to space, a microwave-sized cubesat phoned home for the first time as it prepares to embark on its mission of sailing through low Earth orbit.
- NASA's Solar Sail Makes First Contact From Space Before Stretching Its Enormous Wingson April 30, 2024 at 5:00 pm
We may earn a commission from links on this page. An artist’s concept of the Solar Sail mission in orbit. Illustration: NASA Nearly a week after launching to space, a microwave-sized cubesat ...
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The highly advanced solar sail boom could one day allow spacecraft to travel without bulky rocket fuel. By Andrew Paul | Published Apr 24, 2024 11:53 AM EDT This artist’s concept shows the ...
- World's most advanced solar sail rockets into spaceon April 24, 2024 at 1:35 am
The world's most advanced solar sail spacecraft began its odyssey today at 23:32 GMT as it lifted off atop a Rocket Lab Electron launcher from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. It was one of ...
- Rocket Lab launches NASA's solar sail technology into orbiton April 23, 2024 at 4:48 pm
April 23 (UPI) --Rocket Lab launched NASA's new composite solar sail into space where it will undergo weeks of testing, using sunlight to propel it through the solar system. The solar sail ...
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