2024-04-25 01:56:01
Although it’s only the size of a toaster, NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACSS) Advanced Composite Solar Sail SystemACS3) can deploy a microscopically thin plastic sail with an area of 80 m² in about 25 minutes.
It’s not the first solar sail to go into space, but its 7m-long deployable jib (the crosspiece that holds the sails), made of lightweight polymeric materials and specially configured so that the sails can be deployed flat, is an important step towards making such sails lighter and more stable.
After a 32-minute delay due to technical problems, the Electron rocket lifted off into orbit with ACS3 and the South Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology’s NEONSAT-1 Earth observation satellite.
Data from NASA’s Solar Sail mission will be used to refine the sail, which is expected to be about 2,000 m² in size – or half a football field. These giant sails, which catch the solar wind and act like sailing ships, will allow for long-range missions, flying at extraordinary speeds and without using fuel, according to New Atlas.
2024-04-25 01:56:01