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IKAROS, the first space-probe with a solar sail in flight (artist's depiction), featuring a typical square sail configuration of almost 200 m 2. Solar sails (also known as lightsails, light sails, and photon sails) are a method of spacecraft propulsion using radiation pressure exerted by sunlight on large surfaces. A number of spaceflight ...
The project is further developing technologies first tested on their STRaND-1 CubeSat, launched in February 2013. [6] CubeSail will deploy a 25 m 2 solar sail, which will be used to demonstrate the propulsive effect of solar radiation pressure and the de-orbiting capabilities of the sail as a drag augmentation device.
LightSail 2 with deployed solar sail, 23 July 2019. LightSail 2 (COSPAR 2019-036AC) was a CubeSat fitted with a solar sail the size of a boxing ring, covering 32 m 2 (340 sq ft). The sail captured incoming photons from the Sun, just as a wind sail catches the moving air molecules, to propel the spacecraft. [30]
A giant solar sail recently unfurled by Nasa has been spotted “tumbling” through space.. Astronomers captured the 80-square-metre object, which was unfurled last week, appearing to fluctuate ...
A preliminary mission outline suggests the use of solar sails [4] propelled by high energy lasers to increase propulsion. [4] The proposed launch would be on the 100th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. [6] The spacecraft would reach Alpha Centauri by the year 2113, 44 years after its launch travelling at 10% of the speed of light. [3]
Artist's concept of a heliogyro, proposed to visit Halley's Comet in 1986. Each blade would be 8 m (26 ft) wide and 6.2 km (3.9 mi), for 0.6 km 2 (0.23 sq mi) of sail area. Solar sail types. A heliogyro could have dozens of blades. UltraSail is a proposed type of robotic spacecraft that uses radiation pressure exerted by sunlight for propulsion.
Sail. Four 6.8 m booms were designed to deploy the single 85 m 2 aluminized polyimide solar sail, which is 2.5 μm thick. The sail deployment mechanism was a modification of those of NanoSail and The Planetary Society's LightSail 2 spacecraft. [1] [12] The deployment time for the full sail was planned to be approximately 30 minutes. Avionics
Interstellar Probe is the name of a 1999 space probe concept by NASA intended to travel out 200 AU in 15 years. [1] This 1999 study by Jet Propulsion Laboratory is noted for its circular 400-meter-diameter solar sail as a propulsion method (1 g/m 2) combined with a 0.25 AU flyby of the Sun to achieve higher solar light pressure, after which the sail is jettisoned at 5 AU distance from the Sun. [2]