A solar sail is a form of spacecraft propulsion that uses the pressure of sunlight for thrust, eliminating the need for conventional fuel. The concept involves a large, reflective sail that captures the momentum of photons emitted by the Sun; even though these particles are massless, their impact transfers momentum to the sail, propelling the spacecraft. Solar sails allow for continuous acceleration over long periods, making them particularly suitable for missions requiring long-distance travel where traditional fuel would be impractical due to mass and depletion concerns. Notable experimental and theoretical solar sail missions include the Japanese IKAROS project, which successfully demonstrated solar sailing in 2010, and the Planetary Society’s LightSail project. These developments underscore the potential of solar sails to enable more efficient, cost-effective space exploration and even interstellar travel in the future.
NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System has successfully established communication with ground operators and is testing innovative solar sail technology that could revolutionize space travel….
NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System Mission is on its way! The spacecraft lifted off from the launch pad aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket at…
NASA is pioneering solar sail technology for space exploration, offering an eco-friendly propulsion system that harnesses sunlight. This advancement enables potential missions to study space…
As NASA’s exploration continues to push boundaries, a new solar sail concept has been selected by the agency for development toward a demonstration mission that…
In October 2017, the interstellar object ‘Oumuamua passed through our Solar System, leaving a lot of questions in its wake. Not only was it the…
NEA Scout will visit an asteroid estimated to be smaller than a school bus – the smallest asteroid ever to be studied by a spacecraft….
Even after 30 months in space, The Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 mission continues to successfully “sail on sunbeams” demonstrating solar sail technology in Earth orbit….
NASA Solar Sail Asteroid Mission Readies for Launch on Artemis I NASA’s Near-Earth Asteroid Scout is tucked away safely inside the agency’s powerful Space Launch…
A tiny sail made of the thinnest material known – one carbon-atom-thick graphene – has passed initial tests designed to show that it could be…
New research details how to use the radiation and gravity of the stars to decelerate a high-velocity interstellar projectile. In April last year, billionaire Yuri…